Us And Clare
by ronOReds
Summary: Sequel to 'Ice Makes Passion.' After the fight with the Volturi, the Cullen Family adopts little Clare. A series of events in her life, with the Cullen siblings as parents!
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Well this is the sequel to Ice Makes Passion! So if you haven't read that story, this one might be a little confusing to you! I would like to thank my reviewers who gave me this wonderful idea! I am going to do a series of events that happen in Clare's life, but lots of them so have no fear! And all of you who asked if Edward and Bella were going to be in it, of course! LOL…I tend to like writing most in Edward's POV, so have no fear. I also made this one extra long, to make up for not posting last night!**

**This is 1 year later, Clare is 5.**

**Edward's POV**

"Edward!"

I heard my wife Bella shout my name from the top of the stairs. The house was in utter chaos today because Clare would be starting her first day of kindergarten. Ever since what happened last year, the fight with the Volturi, and Clare losing her parents, we had legally adopted her. Carlisle had set it up perfectly. We claimed to have stumbled upon the small family hiking, and made it seem as if her parents were attacked and killed by forest animals. We lucked out that she had no other relatives to speak of, and we were able to take her into our family immediately.

When I think about the past year of my life, I always wonder how I ever made it through my years without Bella. I even secretly wonder how I survived when she wasn't a vampire. Now, with her beside me every moment, for eternity as my soul mate, I can't even fathom living any other way. It enthralls me fully that I seem to love her more each day. It is as if we are one person. I smiled to myself knowing our time together had just begun.

The Cullen family household had certainly been entertaining this past year. It was a constant uproar these days, filled with laughter, and no one had ever been happier really. Clare was now a permanent fixture in our lives and we all looked to her as our daughter in a sense. She didn't speak of her parents much anymore, but we kept her distracted. She had grown desperately attached to all of us in her own way, and we to her.

We all played a huge role in her life, albeit in different ways. It could be said that she looked to Bella and I most as her parental figures. When she got hurt from time to time, or if she was excited about something, or if she just needed some quiet time, it was Bella or I that she sought out. Clare would refuse to go to sleep unless she was snuggled between Bella and myself in our bed. But it was only me, who could read her a bedtime story. I knew from her thoughts that she found a great peace in the sound of my voice.

But Clare completely adored Alice. They played together for hours and hours on end. Alice was the only one who gave her a bath each night, and she kept most of her things in Alice's room. Their dressers stood right next to each other, and they were filled to the brim with many matching outfits. It was basically Clare's room too, besides the fact she slept in ours.

However, maybe the main source of her delight was found in Emmett, who she was absolutely enamored with. He was the one who would play any game she wanted, and she could always be seen around the house floating on top of his shoulders, laughing happily. He was always making her laugh, and she often craved his company the most.

She had unmistakably formed a strong bond with Jasper too. She was often plagued by nightmares of her past, and when she woke up, she would look for Jasper. He comforted her the most with his calm demeanor, and every morning, they would go on walks, holding hands, talking about whatever Clare felt like. If Clare did mention her parents, or disclose some of her fears, it would be Jasper who she confided in.

But it was in Rosalie perhaps, that she found her greatest friend. Once Rosalie entered the room, Clare would automatically cling to her. Rosalie was in a sense, most in charge of Clare. She managed her mealtimes, made sure that Clare was growing up as human as possible. She took her on trips to the beach, the zoo, and anything else that she saw fit for a young child to do.

Carlisle and Esme were also a large part of her life, always there, giving her whatever she needed. But they knew how we felt about Clare, and let most of the responsibility fall to us. She did spend time with them on her own accord, but it was safe to say that we hogged her.

"Edward Cullen!" shouted Bella again, snapping me out of reverie.

I smiled, rushing up the stairs as quick as I could. When I got to the top landing, all I could hear was the pitter patter of Clare's tiny feet, running toward me down the hallway. She was wearing her favorite pink nightgown, and her hair was already done up in small little pigtails. She giggled and leaped into my outstretched arms.

"I going to kindergarten!" she told me excitedly, bouncing a bit.

"You are!" I gasped, "What a big girl!"

"Very big girl," she said sweetly. I laughed and switched her onto my left arm and began to walk down the hallway.

"You coming too," she stated firmly when we entered Alice's room. Before I could answer her, Rosalie rushed over and lifted her out of my arms. My entire family was gathered there, and my eyes widened a bit as I took everything in.

Alice was flinging clothes left and right, no doubt trying to find the perfect first day of school outfit. Rosalie was currently touching up her hair, simultaneously saying yes or no to each outfit that Alice would hold up. Bella was surrounded by notebooks and pencils, packing a small pink backpack with multicolored folders. Jasper was deep in concentration sprawled out on the floor, writing her name on each item in perfect script. To my complete surprise, Emmett was standing in front of the mirror, trying on different headbands, with an unsettlingly serious expression. He turned to me sporting a light pink one.

"Pink or white?" he asked seriously, glancing back at the mirror.

I smirked. "Sorry to break it to you Emmett, but I'd have to say that neither color suits you very well."

"They're for Clare," he said without a trace of embarrassment. He quickly replaced the pink one for white.

"No headbands," said Rosalie to her husband. "Her hair looks too cute without it."

"Got it!" said Alice from within the closet. She emerged holding up a little pink sundress and what I knew to be designer sandals. "This is a first day of school outfit," she said, mostly to herself as she walked over to Clare.

I walked up to Bella right as she was zipping up the backpack proudly. I leaned down to kiss her gently, and I felt her smile against my lips. I pulled back, resting my forehead against hers for a moment, before turning my attention back to Clare.

Alice had just gotten her changed and was appraising her with a satisfied smile. "Perfect!" she finally said. Rosalie nodded in agreement, grinning widely as she brushed out her bangs one last time.

Jasper and Emmett were beaming from their positions in the room and I had to admit, she was probably the cutest little thing I had ever seen, besides those baby pictures of Bella that I had stolen from Charlie's house.

"Don't forget this," called Bella, holding out her new backpack.

Clare scurried over and allowed Bella to help her into it. She placed both her hands on the straps and made her way over to the door. I held in my laughter when I saw that the backpack was almost as tall as her.

"Kindergarten," she said happily to herself, turning back to us for a second. "I ready, let's go." And with that she disappeared around the corner. All we could hear was the flip flop of her tiny sandals.

We stood a little shocked for one second, before we laughed and moved to race after her. She was barely down the hallway before Emmett scooped her up and skipped her down the stairs.

Esme was waiting at the bottom with a plastic lunchbox. "Here you are sweetheart," she said, handing it to Clare who grasped it anxiously.

"Thank you," she answered politely, holding on to Emmett's neck with one arm.

"What did you pack her?" asked Rosalie concernedly, making her way to the last step.

"A peanut butter and jelly sandwich, one juice box, half a chocolate cupcake, and apple slices," replied Esme with a smile.

Rosalie nodded once, accepting the choices.

We all made our way outside to Emmett's jeep. I was actually a little bit nervous. We hadn't let Clare out of our sight for this long since she came to live with us. I could tell that the others were feeling the same way from their anxious expressions. I looked down at Bella, who was biting her lip restlessly. I squeezed her hand to reassure her.

Emmett passed Clare to Jasper, when he climbed into the driver's seat. Rosalie sat up beside him, and the rest of us piled into the seats in the back. Jasper and I climbed into the farthest seats, while Alice and Bella sat in the middle, Clare nestled between them.

The engine roared to life, and Clare clapped her hands excitedly.

After smiling back at her for a second, Emmett cleared his throat loudly.

"Clare," he stated a little seriously. "Let's talk."

"Okay," she agreed.

"Now, this is very important. There are going to be little boys there, you should probably just stay clear away from them. If they come up to talk to you, ignore them, or maybe even punch-"

His speech was cut of when Rosalie suddenly pinched him on his leg. Inconspicuously of course so Clare couldn't see. My family had become masters of this of during the past year.

"Don't listen to him Clare," soothed Rosalie softly. "Feel free to make friends with all the little boys you want," she said turning back to glower at her husband. Emmett sat there angrily, but kept quiet for the moment. I could tell by his thoughts that this would not be the end of this particular discussion.

"Especially the cute ones!" whispered Alice. Bella laughed loudly, but Emmett looked absolutely scandalized from his place in the front seat.

"Make sure you share with everyone," piped in Jasper. "That's important."

"And always listen to the teacher," I quipped.

The car erupted in commands.

"Don't share your food!"

"Don't go anywhere alone, you never know who could be creeping around outside!"

"Don't run to fast anywhere!"

"Be friendly to everyone!"

"Be careful with the scissors!"

"Don't get paint on your clothes!"

"Don't join any cults!"

"Will everyone stop!" shouted Bella, laughing incredulously. "It's kindergarten. She's going to have fun and make new friends…oh honestly Emmett, cults!" she huffed.

He shrugged and we all sat back, a little embarrassed.

"I remember kindergarten," continued Bella. "There really isn't anything to worry about." I leaned back, slightly mollified, but not completely. I had no recollection of kindergarten and it made me uncomfortable that I didn't know what she was walking into.

We raced into the school parking lot, plummeting over the speed bumps, with the engine still roaring loudly. I saw a few parents scream and rush their kids out of the way.

"Emmett!" shrieked Rosalie. "You have to slow down this is an elementary school!"

"Sorry," he said. "I didn't know." Clare, used to this driving was not affected; she was straining to see out of the window.

"We're here!" she squealed, bouncing in place. Everyone laughed and cheered along with her.

We pulled into a parking space, at normal speed, near the back end of the lot. There were small children everywhere walking toward the front doors with their parents. We piled out and Bella and I each grabbed one of Clare's hands as we made our way toward the school. She was skipping excitedly between us and every couple steps or so, we would pick her up and swing her, much to her delight.

Alice danced happily beside us, hand in hand with Jasper, smiling at each one of the passing children. Rosalie was rifling through the backpack, making sure that Clare had everything, while Emmett was walking in front of us, glaring menacingly at all the passing male students.

I gave him a quick kick to the back of his leg. "Stop," I mouthed. He narrowed his eyes at me, but moved next to Rosalie and grabbed her hand. We walked up to the wide doors, and were directed to the auditorium where the classroom assignments were posted.

I could hear the loud chatter before we even entered the gym, and there is nothing more hectic than hearing hundreds of young minds all at once. Clare practically dragged us through the doors, and we made our way to the first bulletin board labeled Kindergarten.

Jasper went up and quickly scanned the first list, immediately spotting Clare's name. "Mrs. Meyer," he said bending down to her. "That's going to be your teacher Clare."

"Mrs. Meyer," she repeated, beaming up at me. I grinned back, enjoying her enthusiasm.

We wove our way out of the gym, and followed the signs to the kindergarten hallway. There were already few families saying goodbye to their children. We came up to the door and an older woman stepped out to meet us.

"Good morning," she said sweetly, pausing for a moment as she took us all in. She bent down to greet Clare. "And hello to you, what's your name."

"Clare Cullen," she replied, sticking out her hand for Mrs. Meyer to shake it. No doubt a habit she picked up from Jasper.

Mrs. Meyer chuckled and shook her hand once. "Well hello Clare Cullen, welcome to kindergarten." She stood up and looked at each of us. "Which one of you are her parents?"

"Her parents couldn't make it, we're her brothers and sisters," I answered formally.

"How wonderful," she mused and turned back to Clare. I noticed Clare was staring at the other students with curiosity; she didn't really spend too much time around kids her own age. Bella was right; kindergarten would be good for her. I felt better than I had all day.

"All right Clare, say goodbye, it's time to come inside." Mrs. Meyer gave us one last smile and retreated into the classroom.

Bella knelt down next to Clare and gathered her in her arms. "Have a great first day; we will be here to pick you up at exactly 2:30 okay?" She held her tight for a moment before letting go and kissing her forehead.

I picked her up swiftly in a big hug and kissed her cheek. "Be good Clare, see you soon."

I handed her off to Jasper who held her tight, whispered good luck, then reluctantly passed her to Alice. Alice placed her back down and smoothed out her dress. "Bye Clare," she pouted.

"You not coming?" she asked each of us, suddenly catching on. She turned to me with a confused expression. I frowned, all my good feeling about the day disappeared.

"No sweetheart," said Rosalie kneeling down and holding on to both of her hands. "Only you're going to kindergarten, but don't worry, your going to have fun! There are lots of little girls and boys in there, you will make new friends and-"

"No! Don't go!" she cried, throwing herself into Bella's arms. Bella looked heartbroken as she pried her wrists from around her neck. "Clare honey, we have to, we can't go inside with you."

Her lip began to quiver, and her eyes filled with tears. She flung herself at Emmett; she was used to getting her way when it came to him. He bent down and pulled her into his arms, holding her close. She cried softly into his shoulder, and we all stood there despairingly.

"She can start next year," stated Emmett firmly, spinning on his heel and starting to walk down the hallway.

"Clare?" Mrs. Meyer peeked out and spotted her crying in Emmett's arms.

Clare lifted her head to glare at her. "I not coming," she replied.

"Oh but we're going to have so much fun today," said Mrs. Meyer, walking up to her. "We're going to sing, learn the first three letters of the alphabet, paint, and play lots of games!"

She sniffled. "Games?"

"Lots of games," answered Mrs. Meyer with a big smile. She held out her hand, and Emmett placed Clare cautiously back on the ground. She hesitantly grabbed onto the teachers hand.

"_Start walking away_," Mrs. Meyer mouthed to us, and we slowly turned, looking over our shoulders at her.

Clare stopped in the middle of the hallway, watching us leave. I felt awful. Her brows were furrowed, and her lips set into a pout. She lifted her little hand and waved. "Goodbye," she said tearfully as we rounded the corner.

No one spoke as we exited the building, we were all thoroughly miserable.

"She's so sad," said Alice, sitting down the curb. We all joined her in turn. We must have been a sight, six vampires pouting outside an elementary school.

"It felt so wrong to leave her," added Jasper, "She was terrified, I felt it."

"That's it!" shouted Emmett after a moment. "I'm going to get her."

"We can't!" cried Rosalie, tugging him down "We have to let her do this on her own." But I could tell the idea intrigued her. I had to admit, the idea was intriguing to me. I wrapped my arm around Bella. I turned to look at her, and noticed her thoughtful expression.

"Why don't we just, you know, peek in for a second by the window, and if she's fine then we'll leave," she optioned brightly.

Everyone sat still, mulling over what Bella had suggested. No one answered, but all at once, we rushed, tumbling over each other, to the kindergarten classroom window.

"Get down!" hissed Rosalie, as we got closer. "We can't be seen!"

We crawled in a single file line through the tall grass, until we were directly under the window. We sat down for a moment, collecting ourselves.

"Now what?" Bella asked beside me.

"Now, we look," answered Emmett, standing up to peer into the window. Rosalie grabbed his shoulder and forced him back onto the grass.

"We can't just look!" she scolded, "Someone's bound to notice if were just aimlessly lurking outside, popping in and out of the window!"

"I'll look," I shushed them; "I'll be able to tell if someone notices me."

Everyone silently agreed, and I turned and placed both my hands on the window sill, rising up slowly until my eyes could see into the classroom.

"What's she doing?" quipped Alice right away. "Is she okay?"

I scanned the room quickly, until my eyes found Clare sitting on the rug next to a girl with blonde hair.

"It looks like she made a friend," I said cheerfully. "They're sitting together playing right now."

I heard Bella sigh in relief. "Great, let's go then, this is a bit ridiculous."

"Wait!" called Emmett a little too loudly, "Are there any little boys near her?"

"Oh for goodness sake," said Rosalie, "Stop it with the little boys."

Jasper cleared his throat. "I would kind of like to know myself." Alice glowered at him.

I nodded and peeked back over the windowsill. The whole class was gathering together onto the rug, getting ready for introductions. Clare sat cross legged between the blonde girl, and a bright haired child. My eyes narrowed. "She is sitting next to a red headed boy," I said flatly.

"What!" cried Emmett, standing up to his full height and glaring into the window.

Someone screamed from inside.

Emmett ducked immediately, and we all raced to hide around the corner. We turned to frown at him.

"You idiot!" snapped Jasper, "What were you thinking?"

Emmett crossed his arms, unphased by his comment. "I'm not sorry, matter of fact, I'm going back…red head indeed," he muttered. We all pulled him back onto the ground.

"Wait for a bit," I said. "At least fifteen minutes."

"Fine," he huffed.

We all sat back against the brick building, waiting. I grabbed Bella's hand and brought it up to my mouth, kissing her wrist gently. I knew how I was going to distract myself for the next fifteen minutes. I pulled my wife onto my lap, content to just gaze into her eyes.

But all too soon, I saw Emmett sneaking back around the corner. I sighed heavily, and reluctantly followed after him. Emmett peered over, much more cautiously this time.

"Snack time," he reported, "They're giving her cheese and crackers."

"Cheese and crackers?!" hissed Rosalie, "She doesn't like cheese and crackers!" 

Rosalie got next to Emmett to look over the window herself. She scowled. "She is sitting there, just looking at them. That old bat better not force her to eat…wait a second… oh how cute!" Rosalie crouched back down with a wide grin on her face. "She gave hers to that little red headed boy."

"Aww!" Alice and Bella cooed at once.

"What!" Jasper and I whispered fervently. How could she be close with that little human already?

Jasper and I positioned ourselves on either side of Emmett. Sure enough, Clare and that boy were sitting next to each other, and he had her snack.

"I don't like this," said Emmett, glaring at the little boy. Before I knew what was happening, I saw a pinecone go flying through the window, knocking the small red head directly between the eyes. Clare screamed and covered her mouth.

The teacher came running over, "What happened Chase? Are you okay?" It was obvious he was trying not to cry, but he was rubbing his head, trembling a bit.

"I'm okay," he repeated over and over.

We all had watched this scene play out silently, but ducked down when Chase started explaining about the pinecone.

"Ouch! Stop! That hurts!" I turned to see Emmett getting whacked by each of the girls in turn.

"You idiot!" they howled, quietly as possible. "The poor thing!"

I couldn't help but laugh. Emmett was really over reacting, but I didn't know if I liked that she was friends with a boy already either. After waiting about ten more minutes, I peeked back over the windowsill to see that the teacher was passing out paints.

"Oh they're painting," I told them, looking back towards Bella. We heard Mrs. Meyer tell them to paint a picture of their families, and everyone would share with the class. For the next half hour, we watched as Clare painted each one of us. She was actually quite talented in that area, and her picture was very detailed for a five year old. I looked around at the other children's pictures, feeling a bit smug.

The class reconvened on the rug, and we watched as several students came up to present their paintings. It was going to be obvious that Clare's was the best. I knew she was quite proud of it too because she was waiting anxiously for her turn.

"Alright," said Mrs. Meyer, "Clare Cullen."

Clare stood up primly, and waltzed to the front of the room. She held up her picture beaming. "My family," she started, "Rosie, Alice, Bella, Emmett, Edward, Jasper." She pointed to each of us in succession.

"Hey!" shouted a tall skinny boy with glasses near the back, "You can't have six mommies and daddies!"

We all gasped outside. "How dare him!" sneered Alice.

He probably had no idea that he had six volatile vampires eyeing him fiercely from outside. But our heads quickly turned back to Clare, who was standing a bit dejected at the front of the room.

"No Matthew," interrupted Mrs. Meyer, "Every family is different. Clare here is very lucky to have such wonderful brothers and sisters…You can take your seat now Clare, thank you for sharing."

Clare walked back to her seat, eyed the skinny boy named Matthew, and stuck her tongue out at him. We all fell onto the grass laughing.

"See," began Bella, "She can handle herself."

After everyone had presented, the class went back to playing with the games and toys that were around the room. Emmett got back up to now glower at the little boy who made the comment. I saw him tap lightly on the glass. I flew to his side, "Emmett don't!"

He shushed me. "Just trust me." He tapped on the window lightly again. And to my surprise, he got the attention of the tall skinny boy. Emmett waggled his finger, calling him over.

The boy didn't scream, but he walked over warily, hands clasped together. "Y-yes?"

But Emmett didn't answer, once the little boy was close enough, Emmett bared his teeth, snarling angrily.

That caused the little boy to scream loudly and tear away from the window. He ended up running into a tower of blocks, knocking it over; causing the little boy who was building it to start crying. When the block tower collapsed, it fell into the paint bowls of two nearby girls, splattering red and blue all over their faces and arms. They shot up quickily, shaking out their hands, sending paint flying out in every direction. It flew over and hit a boy playing with a dump truck, and he accidently sent the truck flying across the room, where it knocked Bella's blonde friend over. She screamed and grabbed Bella for support, but they both ended up toppling to the ground, knocking down the Alphabet easel, which conked out Chase, the red head, on its way down. Mrs. Meyer gasped and tried to run over, but she slipped on some spilt paint, and slid into a nearby desk. The desk jutted up a bit, causing the girl that was sitting on the one facing it to fall off her chair. The beads she was playing with rolled in every direction, causing her friend who was rushing over to help, fall flat on her face.

The room erupted in tears.

We stood there, gaping at the mess Emmett had caused. No one moved. Never in my life have I been so embarrassed, and it wasn't even me who was responsible. We watched sheepishly, as Mrs. Meyer struggled to get the room in order. No one was seriously hurt except for Chase, and Mrs. Meyer told him to go to the nurse's office with a buddy. To our forlorn, he chose Clare.

They disappeared out of the room.

"Clare isn't happy," admitted Jasper, "I can feel it."

"Well maybe because her friend was maliciously taken out by an alphabet easel!" snapped Rosalie, giving Emmett a murderous look.

Emmett shrugged in response.

"I'm going to check on her," stated Bella, already following their forms down the hallway. The nurse's office was luckily stationed right by the kindergarten hallway, and we still had access to its window. However, I was definitely feeling a bit foolish about this spying on Clare thing. We had caused nothing but trouble.

We watched as they sat in the waiting area.

"Feel better?" Clare asked Chase, looking at him intently.

"Yes," he answered. Clare nodded and looked away, but Chase kept looking at her.

"I liked your picture," he confessed shyly, turning about as red as his hair.

"Thank you!" Clare said, turning towards him with a wide smile.

The next second, the nurse walked in and began to examine him.

"I think we should head home," I suggested. I turned to see Bella, Alice, and Rosalie swooning over the scene we had just witnessed. Jasper was quiet, and Emmett looked slightly mollified with the red head.

"I agree," said Bella. "We'll come back at 2:30 like we're supposed to."

"What time is it now?" asked Alice.

"Almost 1," I answered.

She looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well it's useless to go home right now, we might as well just hunt…last one into the forest can't drive for a year!" she suddenly yelled, tearing away toward the trees. We all flew after her, laughing.

As 2:30 rolled around, we walked back into the school and made our way into the kindergarten hallway. Clare was waiting anxiously outside the door, and when she spotted us, she visibly brightened and flew in our direction.

She ended up in Emmett's arms first.

"How was kindergarten?" we all asked at once.

"Fun!" she answered, she squirmed out of Emmett's grasp and ran back towards the room, dragging her red headed friend Chase along with her.

"This is Chase, he liked my picture," she told us.

Chase looked at us nervously.

"Hello Chase," said Rosalie, bending down to both of them. "It's so nice to meet you."

"Hi," he replied, and then quickly ran back to his mom, hiding around her leg. His mom was immersed in a serious conversation, no doubt about Chase's multiple injuries, with an exhausted Mrs. Meyer.

I felt Clare at my feet and gazed down at her. "So what did you do today?" I asked, grabbing her hand and leading her down the hallway.

"Lots of stuff," she told us. "Games, paints, Chase got hurt," she added in.

"He did?" asked Emmett incredulously.

She nodded, and stopped when we reached the big wooden doors of the entrance.

"What's wrong Clare," asked Jasper.

"I missed you," she said, looking down at her feet.

We looked at each other, and then all grabbed her to carry her into the air.

"We missed you too," said Bella, but Clare was already laughing.

**Author's Note: I have a picture of how I imagine Clare in my profile! But everyone is welcome to their own vision of her. I just thought this little girl was cute, but had a slight adult beauty to her face also. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:** **I'm really having fun with this story! Of course, a big thanks to those who reviewed! It really makes me so happy to write, when I know people are reading and liking my story. Another long chapter! **

**Clare is now ****6**

**Edward's POV**

"Bella?" I called as I walked into our room. I placed two large bags on the bed and drifted into the bathroom.

I smiled to myself when I spotted her soaking in the tub. She was humming softly to music playing in the background. Even though she no longer needed it, she still insisted on taking a bath at least once a day, claiming that she felt dirty if she didn't. I knelt down beside the tub, taking in her beautiful form. I brought my hand up to lightly brush her forehead, feeling her cool skin that was slightly warmed by the water.

"Time to get out," I whispered, trailing my fingers down her cheek.

"Already?" she asked, opening her eyes to me. She nuzzled into my hand.

"It's almost time to go," I responded, leaning in closer.

"Okay, let me just wash my hair quickly," she told me, reaching behind her to grab the bottle.

"Let me do it," I offered.

"Sure," she said happily. I knew she loved when I did this as much as I did.

I took the bottle from her grasp, and shifted her around so her back was to me. I poured some in my hand, and she sighed heavily when I began to massage her scalp.

"Thanks Edward, that feels lovely," she cooed. I chuckled and ran my fingers lithely through her hair, enjoying the moment. After a few moments, she sank back into the tub to rinse it out. I smiled at her, bringing my hand up to cup her face.

Instead of answering, she placed her hand on top of mine and to redirect it lower. I groaned softly when my fingers grazed the top of her breast. She arched into my touch, and with her free hand, grabbed the back of my neck to pull me in for a kiss.

I responded eagerly, and our mouths crashed together in a fit of passion. She whimpered against my lips, running her hands over my shoulders and onto my back, trying to get as close as possible from our awkward position.

"Bella!"

We paused and opened our eyes, lips still tangled together. We distantly heard our bedroom door creak open, and I hastily reached for a towel, handing it to Bella.

I rushed out of the bathroom and shut the door behind me.

"Trick or treat!" Clare shouted when she saw me. She was jumping wildly on the mattress, an orange plastic pumpkin in her hand.

I laughed and joined her on the bed, gathering her in my arms.

"Where's your costume?" I asked, ruffling up her hair.

"Alice has it," she responded brightly. "Where's yours?"

Just then, Bella came strolling out of the bathroom in a long white t shirt, and joined us on the bed. She smiled at Clare, and I watched as she ceaselessly tickled her, hearing Clare squeal with delight. I loved moments like these, when I had two of the most important people in my world with me, where I knew they were safe.

Clare suddenly eyed the two large bags that I had set on the bed earlier.

"What's that?" she questioned, already making her way over to investigate.

But before she reached the bags, Alice came in the room and snagged her off the bed.

"It's almost time for trick or treating!" she said in lively voice

"Trick or treat!" Clare called again making us all laugh.

"Let's go get your costume on," said Alice in a bubbly voice, carrying Clare out of the room.

Bella turned to me with an apologetic smile. I let her crawl into my arms, and I snuggled her close.

"Interrupted again," she sighed.

I kissed the top of her head. "Want to take a rain check for say, 3:00 in the morning?"

She pretended to contemplate my request, tapping her chin lightly. "Hm, 3:00 isn't good for me; How about say…5:45?"

I chuckled. "Oh Bella." She laughed and kissed the tip of my nose. Gracefully springing out of my arms, she grabbed the bags and pulled out the contents.

"Oh!" she gasped excitedly, "You found them!"

"Yup," I smiled. "Took me forever, but luckily, I've got that much time."

She smiled and pulled my hand to get me out of bed.

"C'mon, let's get dressed."

**(Half hour later)**

"Ehem" Emmett cleared his throat loudly from behind me.

We were all gathered at the top of the stairs. Carlisle and Esme were waiting for us to make our grand Halloween entrance to show them our costumes. We were doing this for Clare's sake, but I was pretty sure that Emmett was just as excited.

Bella and I stood at the front of the line. I couldn't help but keep looking over at, she looked stunning. She met my gaze, and returned my smile. Her left arm was hooked through mine, and I patted it reassuringly.

Emmett's loud voice echoed off the high ceilings.

"Bow down, lowly peasants."

I shook my head, trying to hold in my laughter.

"And make way," he continued "For the royal family has arrived. Introducing: Cinderella and Prince Charming."

Bella and I fell right into character. I released her immediately, and bent over, one arm curving behind my back. She extended her right hand, allowing me to kiss it. We waltzed down the stairs, arms locked. She was wearing a dazzling light blue dress, covered in shimmering sparkles. Her hair was twisted high in an elegant bun, complete with a thick matching headband, and a black choker around her neck. I was wearing maroon pants, with a white 1950's tuxedo jacket laced with gold thread and buttons. There were three golden bands across the chest, and the shoulders were rounded with crisp hanging thread. When we reached the bottom of the staircase, I pulled a real glass slipper out of my pocket.

Bella smiled and scrunched her dress to reveal a shoeless foot. I put it on delicately and kissed her ankle. She let go of the dress, we came in for a brief kiss, and I twirled her around elegantly.

Carlisle and Esme clapped and whistled, and Bella and I took our bow.

"Make way," Emmett boomed, "For Snow White, and her Prince."

Alice suddenly appeared at the top of the stairs, with her hand clutched to her heart. She wore a red ribbon in her hair which was curled under, just hitting her chin. She wore a dark blue bodice, with puffy white sleeves, polka dotted with red. She had a long flowing yellow skirt with quaint black shoes.

"I'm wishing!" she started singing in a high voice, identical to Disney's Snow White.

"I'm wishing," she repeated, "For the one I loveee." She started walking down the stairs. "To find me…To find me…Today."

"Tooo-dayyyyy," Jasper sang in a low melodic voice, meeting her at the bottom of the stairs. He was decked out in a brown vest with a loose white undershirt. He wore a long red cape, and dark brown tights. He kissed her hand and swung her around. They stared at each other wistfully for a moment, then took their place next to us in line.

Carlisle, Esme, Bella, and I all clapped loudly as they took their bows.

"Make way," Jasper shouted loudly, "For Sleeping Beauty, and Prince Phillip!"

Rosalie came alone to the top of stairs. She had on a long sleeved light pink dress, with a gold crown set on the top of her blond hair. Her eyes were glazed over, as if in a trance, and she started walking slowly down the stairs with one finger held out in front of her heading for the spinning wheel that was placed at the bottom. At the last step, she reached out to prick her finger, and collapsed. But before she could hit the ground, Emmett scooped her up. He was wearing a long beige sleeveless shirt, with a black belt. Black tights with high black books, and a dark red cape, but the best part was the shield that was resting on his back.

He kissed Rosalie swiftly, lingering a bit, and she opened her eyes, magically awakening.

We gave them a round of applause, and we then gathered together at the bottom of the staircase.

"Bow down," Emmett yelled. We all sank to one knee, bowing our heads.

"Be wary, for her majesty has arrived!"

Clare skipped out from around the corner, and we all looked up.

"Presenting!" he shouted, "The Queen of Hearts!"

Clare giggled, and started walking down the stairs. Her red dress flared out at least a foot from her. The neckline had a high collar that framed her entire head, which had a large hold crown resting on it. Her lips were bright red, and her dark hair was piled on top of her head. The bodice had long sleeves, and was decorated with tiny white hearts. In her hand she held a long wand that had a large red heart attached to it.

As she descended, we all began clapping loudly, cheering, and whistling. Clare had a huge smile plastered on her face and flew into Jaspers arms at the bottom.

After a few laughs, and small talk, we started to get ready to leave.

Esme came up and handed me a small light jacket.

"Take this for Clare, it's a big chilly outside."

I nodded, and tucked the jacket in the backpack I was wearing.

"Everyone ready?" Alice called over her shoulder as she skipped out the door.

"Ready," we all shouted. Rosalie held Clare's hand as we piled into the car. There weren't many houses near ours, so we planned to take her into town.

Clare jumped excitedly in the middle seat.

"I'm going to eat all my chocolate tonight!" she said to Rosalie.

"Not all tonight," Bella answered quickly. "You'll get a tummy ache."

"You'll help me eat it then, right?" she asked us out loud.

"Right."

"Sure."

"Of course."

"Definitely!"

We all agreed excitedly, but I knew they were thinking exactly what I was. Chocolate was the probably the foulest thing I had ever tasted, and there was no way I was swallowing a bit of it.

We parked at Clare's elementary school, and walked across the street. There were many children already running around, clad in masks and makeup. There were parents yelling, chasing after their children, holding pillowcases filled with candy.

Clare and Alice were skipping excitedly ahead of us, already heading toward the first house. Bella and I stayed in the street, walking a bit slower.

"Nice tights LOSERS!"

Emmett, Jasper, and I whipped our heads around to see three adolescents, riding away on their bikes, laughing at us over their shoulders.

"Why you little…" Emmett snarled, ready to chase after them, but when Clare and Alice returned, he reined himself in, giving Jasper and I a meaningful look.

We both nodded. Later.

We walked up to the next house, and all made our way down the sidewalk.

Clare knocked loudly on the door.

"Trick or treat!" she yelled, when an old woman opened the door.

"Oh how adorable!" the woman screeched when she saw Clare. "Irv! Get up and see this little girl's costume!"

I heard a loud grumble, and springs squeaking as he heaved himself off the sofa. He limped over to the door and took one brief look at Clare.

"Wonderful Marge," he muttered. He reached across from him and grabbed a big bowl, and handed Clare a small package of rice cakes.

Clare gave her rice cakes a quizzical look as they fell into her bag.

"Rice cakes!" screeched Emmett incredulously, startling the couple. "What kind of people give children rice cakes on Halloween!"

He grabbed Clare's hand and dragged her off the stoop.

"Honestly!" he said, "The nerve of-!" His sentence stopped abruptly when three eggs hit him simultaneously in the back.

Clare shrieked, and we all turned around to see the same three kids as before, riding by laughing hysterically.

Emmett was fuming. I could tell it was taking all of his strength to not get up and pound those boys into the ground. But Clare came first, as always.

We continued down that street, with Alice making sure that Clare went to every possible house. On the corner, there was large line forming outside one of the houses. There were gravestones in the front yard, cobwebs laced about the trees, and eerie music blasting out of hidden speakers.

"Oooh a haunted house!" cried Alice, "Let's go!"

"Clare's not old enough," stated Jasper. "Absolutely not Alice."

"Look at all those little kids in the line!" she retaliated. "Halloween is all about haunted houses and being scared, I want Clare to have fun." She looked pleadingly at us.

Bella bent down to Clare. "Do you want to go into the Haunted House?"

At first she looked indecisive, but when she looked toward the house, she lit up with happiness.

"Chase!" she yelled, running toward the line. We quickly followed after her. Ever since last year, Chase and Clare had become very good friends. They were in the same class again for first grade, and Clare was very fond of him. Jasper, Emmett, and I weren't too crazy with the idea of her best friend being a boy, but they were only six after all. Our wives on the other hand, absolutely adored him.

"Hi Clare," he said rushing out from behind his father to meet her. His red hair stood out, even in the darkness. He was dressed as a baseball player, as was his older brother, who looked to be about nine or ten.

"I like your costume," she said eagerly.

"I'm going to play real baseball one day," he told her proudly, "Like my brother Joey."

"I know!" she said excitedly. "Do you like my costume?" she asked.

Chase looked at her warily, unsure of what to say. "Sure."

Clare beamed. She turned around, and looked to Bella.

"I want to go in the haunted house," she said determinedly. So we said goodbye to Chase and made our way to the back of the line. I could hear screaming from inside.

"Are you sure Clare?" I asked. "It's going to be scary."

She bit her little lip and grabbed on to my leg. "Yes," she answered. "Chase is going in."

I sighed and picked her up as we reached the front of the line.

A tall man with a mask led us through the front gates. Clare buried her face into my neck.

"This was a bad idea," I whispered to Bella. She shrugged in response and reached over to rub Clare's back.

The door creaked loudly as we walked in. It was pitch black, and once we were all in the door slammed shut. Emmett screamed.

A loud thunderclap sounded around us.

"Walk this way," a low voice growled as a series of lights lit up a dark hallway. Jasper and Alice walked first, followed by Bella and I. Rosalie and Emmett took up the rear.

Emmett was walking close to me, and his thoughts were on overdrive.

At the end of that hallway, we entered a dim room, where a small woman was sitting in front of a cauldron, holding a skull in her hand. There was fake blood splattered on the walls. I chuckled at the irony.

"Enter," she croaked.

We all walked in, and gathered around her simmering pot.

Clare was trembling in my hands. I threw the old woman a look, and glanced briefly back at Clare.

She smiled and nodded her head.

"Who dares to reach inside my cauldron?" she droned, giving me a meaningful look and turning her eyes to Clare. I read her thoughts quickly, and knew that there was just candy.

I cricked my head back to look at Clare's face.

"Do you want to try?" I asked her. "I'll be right here."

She shook her head forcefully against my shoulder.

"Are you sure?" the old woman asked, "There's a surprise in there."

"Is it scary?" Clare sniffed.

"No, but see for yourself!"

Clare turned around and extended a shaky hand out towards the cauldron. She clung tightly to my neck with her other arm, closed her eyes, and reached inside.

She rummaged around and suddenly pulled out a little bag of M&Ms.

"Yay!" we all cheered, as Clare quickly squirreled away her treat.

The old lady smiled and beckoned us to move on. We were led to a dark staircase, and we all followed Alice who immediately starting skipping up.

"Ouch Emmett, your hurting me," snapped Rosalie.

"Are you okay Emmett?" asked Clare, lifting her head to look back at him.

"I'm great Clare," he replied, in an overly cheerful voice.

At the top of the stairs, we were directed to take a right and we ended up in a makeshift bedroom. The door slammed behind us again.

Nothing happened for a few seconds, but I could hear their thoughts, there were at least three other people in the room.

All at once, with a blast of loud music, two people with horribly disfigured masks climbed out from under the bed. An old woman hobbled out on her cane from behind the dresser. A screaming woman covered in fake cuts and bruises burst out of the closet, followed by a man with what looked like half a face.

Emmett and Clare screamed, and I felt Clare being ripped out of my arms.

"Clare!" I yelled, but turned around to see that it was Emmett, clinging to her.

I grabbed Bella's hand, but she let go suddenly and ducked, and I saw the old woman with the cane pelting candy corns at us.

What the hell? I made an indescribable face at her, and ducked along with Bella. I heard someone revving up a chainsaw, and twisted around to see Jasper and Alice backed up into a corner, the guy with half a face had one and was blocking them in.

What kind of haunted house is this, I thought to myself. I grabbed hold of Bella and started to make my way over to the corner, when I felt a harsh stream of water hit the side of my face.

The two masked men were holding guns, obviously fake, but still.

"Hey, cut that out," I started, but it caused them to spray both Bella and I even more. I picked up some candy corns off the floor and started throwing it at them in retaliation.

I brought my arm back to throw a handful, when I heard a low hissing noise right by my ear. I was suddenly covered in awful smelling sticky string.

"Yuck! Silly String!" Bella shrieked, trying to get it out of her hair. The woman with the cuts and bruises was racing around the room, covering it with the stuff. I couldn't really hear her over the buzz of the chainsaw though.

I heard a shriek, and looked over to see Emmett holding Clare out in front of him. Clare had both hands on the old woman's cane, and they were currently in a tug o war for it. Clare's face looked angry.

"Don't scare Emmett!" she yelled, tugging on the cane.

The chainsaw died down, and we were told to move on. Bella and I were covered in silly string, Jasper and Alice were shaking their heads, trying to get the sound of the chainsaw out of their ears, but Clare and Emmett looked smug. I looked back to see Emmett walking with the old woman's cane tucked over his shoulder.

The rest of the haunted house ended up being a lot of fun. We laughed a lot, and Clare wasn't nearly as scared as we thought. It was definitely kid friendly.

When it was over, we stepped out into the backyard, thankful for the fresh air. It was extremely stuffy in the there. Emmett placed Clare back on the ground, and we all walked back toward the street.

We saw Chase and his family walking in front of us.

"Chase!" called Clare running up to him. Chase turned around with a tear stained face.

"Are you okay?" she asked anxiously, her eyes looking at him concerned.

"I'm fine," he said, hastily trying to wipe his eyes.

"No he's not!" teased Chase's older brother, "He's a wittle baby afwaid of a wittle haunted house!" Chase's father quickly scolded him after that comment.

Chase glared angrily at his older brother, and looked back to Clare.

"I'm not a baby," he told her.

"I know," she replied, smiling at him.

A loud hiss suddenly came from above, and Emmett yelped loudly as a black cat flew out of the tree and raced away.

"Aw, scared of a little cat!" the three boys on bikes called. They widened their eyes and laughed hysterically from the street.

"That is the third strike," growled Emmett.

"Three strikes your out," piped in Chase, standing a little straighter in his baseball uniform.

"Exactly," said Emmett, and he tore away from us, heading in their direction.

"I don't want to know," muttered Bella out loud, locking arms with me.

For the rest of the night, we covered about six blocks worth of houses. Clare's pumpkin was overflowing with candy, and Rosalie and Alice had begun to put some in their purses. Chase had joined us for the remainder of the night. He and Clare skipped along happily, chatting the entire time. I watched them a little suspiciously. But after all, they're only six.

"This should be our last street," said Rosalie as we turned the corner. "It's getting late, and someone's getting tired."

Clare yawned as if on cue. We all laughed.

Alice and Rosalie grabbed both her hands and led her onto the sidewalk. We all jumped up when we heard a muffled scream.

I scanned my eyes down the dark street, and burst into hysterics the second I saw Emmett. He had those three boys covered in toilet paper, tied to one tree. All you could see was their heads sticking out.

We all watched as Emmett took three eggs, and smashed them slowly over each of their heads.

They all moaned out loud while Emmett grinned triumphantly. He looked at us, "Hey Rose? You want a try?"

Rosalie smiled and ran over to husband, snatched an egg out of the box, and threw it at the tree, hitting one of the boys straight in the gut. He groaned and instinctively bent over, but the toilet paper was making it hard for him to move.

Pretty soon we all went over, and began pelting the three boys with eggs. Not our hardest of course, we weren't that mean. Clare and Chase snuck two eggs out of the box, and right when we were walking away, turned around and threw it at them, hitting them square in the chest.

"Time to get home," said Rosalie, grabbing Clare's hand. We walked two streets over to drop Chase back off to his house.

Clare ran over and wrapped him in a huge hug. Chase just stood there, scrunching up his face with a strange expression. Clare was unaffected.

"Bye Chase!" she said and turned to jump in Jasper's arms.

"Bye Clare," he called, and ran to his mother who was waving by the front door.

We made our way back to the parking lot and piled into the car.

"That was fun!" said Alice, cuddling into Jaspers arms, and running her hands through Clare's hair.

"Sure was," called Emmett from the driver's seat, reaching over to hold Rose's hand.

I turned into Bella, and she leaned against my shoulder.

"Don't forget about our date," I placated her, nuzzling my cheek against her head. "5:45 was it?"

She smiled and gazed up at me. "That's too far away, how about a trip to the meadow once our little one falls asleep?"

I grinned. "Deal."

Clare's face suddenly popped up over the seat.

"Now," she said, looking at all of us, "Who wants some chocolate!"

**Author's Note: The whole rice cake thing, that totally happened to me when I was younger, and I haven't forgotten it to this day, haha so I had to add it in. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:** **Of course, starting this off with a big thank you to my reviewers! I've been trying to respond to some of them, and next time I'm going to respond to all! So if you ask a question or something, it will get answered!! Without further ado, the next installment. **

**1 year later, Clare is 7**

**Edward's POV**

I leaned against the window of Emmett's car, counting down the minutes until we would return home. Emmett, Jasper, and I were headed back from a week long hunting trip, the longest we had taken in years. The three of us hardly had any time to spend alone together because we were always so busy. It had been a great week, and it was nice to spend quality time with my brothers, but we were all anxious to get back to our wives, and Clare.

"I can't believe she's seven already," said Jasper from the backseat. "Time has gone by so fast hasn't it?"

Emmett nodded his agreement. "Seven," he mused thoughtfully. "By the way," he turned to me, "Did the girls go by and pick up her present?"

"Yes," I said, a grin taking over my face. "If all went according to plan, they should have brought it home last night."

"Great," he answered. "I can't wait until she sees it."

We pulled down the long driveway, driving at human speed, in case Clare was around. As we approached the house, we heard the door slam and saw Clare running full speed at us, a big smile on her face.

"Your back!" she squealed happily, flying into my arms once I stepped out of the car.

I laughed and hugged her tight to my chest. "I've missed you," I told her.

She giggled and flew towards Emmett, who made it seem as if he was straining to pick her up.

"My goodness Clare, you're getting so big! Did you grow a few inches while we were away?"

"Must be because I just turned seven." she stated matter of factly, squeezing his neck tightly.

"Happy Birthday," said Jasper, coming up to rest a hand on her back. "Are you excited for your party?"

At the mention of her party, she squirmed out of Emmett's arms and grabbed his hand, dragging him toward the backyard. "Yeah! We're setting up now!"

"Setting up?" I said out loud as we followed her.

Turning the corner, I could hear the girls chatting away excitedly, unaware that we had returned. Rosalie, Alice, and Bella were standing outside a large pool, setting up a tall plastic slide.

My nerves jumped a bit when I saw my wife. I had hardly thought about anything but how much I missed her this week, and seeing her again made me anxiously excited.

She was bent over, screwing in an attachment to the slide, and I couldn't help but admire the view. She suddenly stood up upon hearing our footsteps, and turned around. She met my gaze, but it seemed as if she was rooted to the ground. I realized I had stopped walking as well. For a moment, we were still, just looking at each other, until her face broke into a wide smile and she ran over to me, flinging her arms tightly around my neck.

"Edward," she whispered into my shoulder. "I'm so glad your home."

I buried my face into her hair, overwhelmed by emotion. "It was too long," I replied. We swayed on the spot, and I distantly heard Alice and Rosalie run over to greet Emmett and Jasper. For a moment, all six of us were lost in our reunion, oblivious to anything else around us.

"One week?" Rosalie scolded. "Never again." She wrapped herself tightly around Emmett, and he kissed the top of her head.

Clare bounded over and wormed her way in between Bella and I. "Edward," she asked, tugging on the bottom of my shirt. "Can you help us finish the slide for my party?"

"Of course," I answered, reluctantly letting go of Bella. "We'll all help."

For the next hour, we quickly put together the large slide. It had to have been about 25 feet high. Knowing Alice, the tallest slide they could find. We filled the pool with water, set up desserts, and enjoyed each other's company, happy to be all together. The door bell rang just as we all finished changing into our bathing suits. I looked toward the sky, a cloudy day. Everyone would probably feel bad and comment how bad the weather turned out, but if they only knew that for us, it couldn't have worked out better.

Twenty minutes later, our backyard was filled with what was probably every child in the second grade. Clare was currently splashing around in the shallow end of the pool with her blond friend Andrea. Emmett and Rosalie were sitting nearby on the edge, dangling their feet in the water to make sure all the kids, especially Clare, didn't get hurt.

The doorbell rang again, and I rushed into the house and opened the door to Chase and his mom.

"Hello Chase, Hello Mrs. Turner" I said, gazing down at the red head. He had a small pink box in his hand. "Come on in." I beckoned, standing aside for him and his mom.

"Thank you," his mom replied, walking into the foyer. She bent down, licked her thumb and immediately starting wiping the side of his face.

"Mommm," he moaned, glancing up at me for a split second, "Stop."

She smiled and gave him a quick hug. "You be good okay? Listen to Clare's brothers and sisters, and be careful in the pool."

"Yes mom," he replied, looking out toward the backyard anxiously.

"And make sure you give that to Clare," she said, pointing toward the pink box.

He nodded and she stood up, resting her hand on top of his head. "Thanks Edward," she told me.

"No problem, I'm glad he could make it," I said politely.

She huffed, smiling back at me. "As if he would ever miss her birthday party." I laughed and opened the screen door for her. It was true. Chase came over to our house often. He and Clare would spend hours together, playing outside, making up games, telling each other jokes and watching their favorite TV programs. We had grown to really like Chase; he was a nice little boy.

"His father is coming to pick him up," she said on her way out. She turned to me and her eyes held a distant sadness, but before I could determine exactly what it was, she spun on her heel and left.

Confused, I shut the door to see Chase still looking anxiously to the backyard.

I put my hand on his back to lead the way. "Let's go."

The second we stepped into the backyard, Clare looked up. Her eyes brightened, as they always did when she saw him. She scrambled out of the pool and ran over to us.

"Hey Chase!" she cried happily, "Come in! The water's not too cold." She went to grab his hand and saw the pink box.

"This is for you," he said, shoving it towards her.

Her hands were wet so I stepped in and took it for her. "We can open this later; I'll put it with the rest of the presents."

"Okay," said Clare. "Thanks Chase!"

"You're welcome," he replied as she started dragging him towards the pool.

I chuckled to myself, watching them. I felt two familiar arms slide around my waist.

"Whatcha got there?" she asked, eyeing the pink box.

"Chase's present for Clare," I smiled, turning around into Bella's arms. I brought my lips down to hers for a second, pulling back to rest our foreheads together.

"How sweet," she said. "Clare is lucky to have such a nice friend."

"Not as lucky as I am to have you," I said quietly, staring into her eyes.

She stared back, until she began blinking rapidly. She suddenly laughed and playfully slapped my arm. "Stop dazzling me Edward Cullen, it still isn't fair, even after all these years."

I brought my face down to kiss her again. "I plan on continuing to dazzle you for many years to come."

"Even ten years from now?" she replied softly, returning my kiss.

"Twenty," I nipped her ear.

"Twenty five," she whispered, her head falling back.

"One hundred and twenty five." I crushed my lips to hers, and she wound her fingers into my hair.

A loud shriek broke us apart, and we looked toward the pool to see Emmett catapulting Clare into the water. She resurfaced, laughing loudly, and swimming over to him again. Pretty soon, all the children were lining up in front of him.

"Let's go," called Bella motioning toward the water. I put the pink box on the present table and followed her. We stripped down to our bathing suits and climbed into the pool. For the next hour, Emmett, Bella, Jasper, Rosalie, Alice and I were tossing kids around left and right. Everyone was having a great time, and I was enjoying myself seeing Clare so happy.

Bella and I slipped secretly out of the water and made our way into the kitchen. She opened the fridge and pulled out an enormous chocolate cake. I helped her set it on the counter.

"I miss eating cake," she pouted as she placed eight candles strategically on the top tier.

"Well go ahead, try some," I teased, dipping my finger into the frosting and holding it to her lips.

She smirked at me, licked it off, and continued to suck my finger, causing my hand to shake a bit. The moment was gone however when she scrunched up her face in disgust.

"Ugh," she muttered, shaking her head quickly. "That is certainly not how I remember cake tasting."

I laughed and reached into the drawer to get matches.

"Chase's mom looked upset today," I told her, remembering her face at the door.

"Did she?" Bella answered calmly. "Why, what was wrong?"

"I don't know," I said, striking the match to light the first candle.

"You know," Bella said thoughtfully, "She _has_ looked upset recently. I sometimes want to see why, but I really don't want to invade her privacy."

Bella hardly ever used her mind power. She thought it wrong to interfere and delve into the thoughts of others. She only used it in emergencies, and stayed very strict on that fact, caving once and a while when Rosalie would ask her what Brad Pitt was thinking, or the one time when Carlisle was curious about the President's thoughts.

I laughed and quickly lit the rest of the candles. Balancing it on one hand, I walked out into the backyard. Emmett spotted us at once, and immediately starting singing happy birthday in his booming voice.

The kids scrambled out of the pool and around the table. Clare sat atop Jasper's shoulder as about 60 children and six vampires sang their unique versions of the song.

I smiled up at Clare, who was positively glowing with happiness. She blew out the candles and we spread the children out on the grass to serve them their cake.

"Oh! Let's get her present!" cried Alice, jumping up excitedly.

"Yeah," agreed Jasper, "Now's a perfect time."

I agreed to stay and watch over the kids while the five of them disappeared into the trees to get her present. Clare was going to be ecstatic when she saw it. I looked around the sea of faces and spotted her, Chase, and few other children laying under the tree, chatting happily while eating their cake.

I walked over and sat down next to her. She climbed into my lap, piled a bit of cake on her fork and put it to my mouth. "Want some?" she asked.

"No thanks," I told her. "I've already had three pieces," I lied, holding my stomach for emphasis. She laughed, settled into my lap and resumed talking to her friends.

I saw Bella emerge from the trees and give me the thumbs up. I scooped Clare up into my arms. "Clare, we've got a special surprise for you," I told her in her ear.

"Really!" she asked, her tone laced with excitement, "What is it?"

"It's a surprise silly, I can't tell you. But you've got to close your eyes!"

Two hands immediately shot up to cover her face.

"No peeking!" She nodded and clamped her hands tighter as I carried her over, feet away from Bella.

The rest of the children followed us over, looking warily into the dark forest.

Loud gasps and shrieks of surprise filled the air when Alice emerged from the trees, leading a stunning all white Palomino horse. I smiled. It was the perfect present for her. Clare had fallen in love with horses over the past year, and she had asked to take riding lessons. Jasper, who knew how to ride them well, was going to start with her right away.

"Can I look now?" she asked, leaning into me at the sounds of her friends voices.

I bent down beside her and held her arms, pulling them away from her face.

She opened her eyes and looked at her horse for the first time. Her jaw dropped and her hands flew up to cover her mouth. She stood there for a split second before she let out a high pitched shriek and ran over to it.

"A horse!" she screamed over and over, bouncing wildly around her new pet.

We all stood watching her happily. I walked over and placed my arm around Bella, trying to contain my laughter at her excitement.

"Oh thank you!" she cried, throwing herself into each of our arms. When she got to me, I hugged her back tightly.

All the children gathered around the horse trying to pet it at once. Jasper calmed them down a bit, and eventually they started heading back to go in the pool. Clare however, would not leave the horse's side, and she stood there proudly with a smile plastered on her face.

After that, the party started to thin out, as their parents came to pick them up. I was right, for many of them commented on our rotten luck with the weather, but we played the part well.

Clare and Chase were seated next to the horse, which was currently eating out of a feed bucket that we had previously prepared.

Carlisle and Esme had just arrived home, and had right away started talking to everyone's parents. Bella, Jasper, Alice, Emmett, Rosalie and I were laying out a few feet away from Clare under a nearby tree.

"What are you going to name her?" we heard Chase ask, as he absentmindly picked at the grass beside him.

"September," she answered right away, stroking the white fur.

"September?" he asked, pausing to look at her. "Why?"

"Well," she began, "She's a birthday present, and my birthday is in September."

"Oh," he said, looking half confused and half amused. "Oh yeah!" He sprang up to go get his present, throwing it into her lap when he returned. "This is for you, my mom picked it out," he added quickly.

Clare smiled at the pink box and untied the small ribbon. She lifted the top and her eyes lit up. "Chase! It's just like September!" she squealed. She pulled out a thin chain that had a small silver horse dangling from it.

"Aww," enthusiastically whispered Alice, Rosalie, and Bella all at the same time.

"Ours is better," huffed Emmett, glaring at the two of them sitting together. "Ouch!" he suddenly cried when Rosalie punched his arm.

"Thank you," Clare told him, pulling it out of the box.

"You're welcome," he replied. "My mom knows you like horses," he told her quickly as Clare struggled to get the clasp open.

"I'll help you," said Bella, standing up and brushing the grass off her bathing suit. She walked over to them and bent down to put the necklace around Clare's neck.

I watched them happily, until I saw a man, leaning against the side of the house leering at Bella. My eyes narrowed as he walked closer. He was headed right for the three of them, and he was not discreet about the fact that he was completely checking out my wife.

"Who is that?" asked Emmett, standing up at the same time I did. I felt Jasper on my other side once I started to make my way over. We reached them the same time he did.

"There," Bella said cheerfully, standing up once she put the necklace on Clare. "This is a beautiful present Chase," she continued. When she looked up, she spotted me and gave me a questioning look, probably wondering why I looked so upset. She followed my gaze and turned around, coming almost face to face with the man.

I growled dangerously and rushed to her side, wrapping my hand possesively around her waist. His eyes flickered to me for a second, before he looked around us to Chase.

"Let's go son," he called. I could smell the alcohol on his breath, and by the look of it, he was clearly a little drunk. I turned to Bella and from her expression I knew she smelt it too.

Chase stood up and walked slowly to his father's side. I noticed his shoulders were a little slumped. I was suddenly overcome with worry for him. I didn't want his father driving him home if he was drunk.

"Bye Clare," called Chase over his shoulder.

"Bye Chase!" she answered, waving from her spot next to her horse.

Chase's father cleared his throat. "Thanks for having him." And with that he turned and walked away, leading Chase towards the car.

"Let's follow them home," I said to Emmett and Jasper once they were out of ear shot. I gave Bella a quick kiss, and the three of us headed off into the trees.

When we returned about fifteen minutes later, after making sure that Chase made it safely home, we found our wives sitting quietly under the tree. I saw Carlisle, leading Clare around on her horse about quarter of a mile away.

"What's wrong?" I asked, sitting down next to Bella.

She looked at me, sadness etched across her face. "I found out why Chase's mother was upset today," she answered. I knew automatically that she had broken her rule and saw into their thoughts.

My stomach dropped. "Why?"

"Chase's father lost his job, and he has been drinking almost every night. Mrs. Turner has tried to talk to him, but they just end up getting into really bad fights. Nothing physical yet, but it seems to be getting worse."

No one spoke, we just all sat in silence for a moment, contemplating what we just heard.

"Poor Chase," said Alice, snuggling into Jasper's arm.

"You've got to keep a watch on them," said Emmett to Bella. "I don't want anything to happen to Chase or his mother."

Bella nodded sadly in agreement. But after a second she looked up. "But maybe times are just hard for them right now, hopefully it will get better."

"Hopefully," Rosalie said.

Clare shouted over to us, and seeing her so happy on her horse brought me out of my saddened state.

"Woo hoo!" called Emmett jokingly. "Who is that little lady riding that white stallion!?"

Clare waved to us again, but her attention was drawn right back to her horse.

"Today was a good day," sighed Bella. "Clare had a great time, and she loves her horse. That was a perfect idea Alice."

"Naturally," Alice said smiling.

We all laughed and tossed as much grass on her as we could.


	4. Chapter 4

**Clare is now**** 8**

**Edward's POV**

Christmas has always been my favorite time of year. The whole dynamic of the way people interact with each other completely changes. Everyone is kinder, and their thoughts are warmer and more inviting. Of course, a few days after New Years, the effect wears off, but it is always enjoyable for me, being forced to hear their thoughts and all.

My whole family had just finished opening their presents. Clare was squeezed between Emmett and Jasper in front of the TV, all three playing Halo on X BOX 360, a gift to Clare from Emmett. However, Emmett did seem to be enjoying it as much as Clare was.

I looked beside me to Bella, who had a book open on her lap, reading intently. This year, I had gotten Bella a small library of books. Ones that I knew were her favorites, ones that I wanted her to read, and ones that I hadn't read myself and thought we could possibly read together. She still wasn't keen on getting presents from me, but she couldn't hide her excitement at all of her new reading material.

"Clare!" shrieked Emmett, turning to face her. "Why did you just do that?" Low notes played in quick succession indicated that his character had just died.

Clare chuckled under her breath. "Sorry Emmett, you were in my way."

Jasper silently held up his hand to her for a quick high five. Emmett immediately resumed playing and was leaning into the television to concentrate.

We had just had a wonderful Christmas. Obviously our presents were always a bit more extravagant, but they had the same heartfelt gesture behind them. Bella had gotten everyone motorcycles, saying that she missed riding and thought it would be fun to do as a family. Having given the previous motorcycle I bought to Jasper, I was more than excited to finally get to ride one.

Carlisle and Esme were currently picking up the wrapping paper strewn about the floor, talking about the Hospital's Annual Christmas Party they were attending that night.

The phone rang suddenly, and Esme went over to pick it up.

"Hello?...Why Merry Christmas Chase…What's…What's wrong?" She spun around away from the TV so Clare wouldn't hear the conversation.

My ears immediately perked up. After the incident with Chase's father at the party last year, we had kept a close eye on him, but we were happy find that most of their troubles were gone when Chase's father got a new job.

Bella sat her book down on her lap, and closed her eyes. I kept my eyes trained on her face, knowing that she was checking up on Chase. Esme hung up the phone at the same time that Bella's eyes snapped wide open.

Bella stared at Esme, who nodded her head. Bella sprang from the couch and dropped to Clare's side. "Do you want to go for a ride to get Chase, Clare. His daddy isn't feeling well right now."

She pressed pause quickly on her controller, and leapt up. "Sure! Let me just go get his present."

She rushed up the stairs and returned a moment later with a sloppily wrapped box. She had put on her pink boots and was already standing at the door.

"I'll go with you," I told Bella, grabbing the keys to the Volvo.

She nodded and we made our way outside. I turned and looked at Esme before we left, getting from her that Chase's father was indeed very drunk, and Chase was scared. He wanted to get out the house, away from his dad.

Clare chattered excitedly the whole way there, anxious to give Chase his gift. She had gotten him a new baseball mitt, and ball. A lot of it was her money that she had saved for doing chores around the house. But I knew Jasper had secretly slipped her extra to buy a ball too. I was going to do the same myself, but he beat me to it.

We pulled into Chase's driveway, and he immediately came out and jumped into the car. His face was tear stained and I noticed he wasn't even wearing a coat. But he wore an embarrassed expression on his face, crossed his arms, and faced the window away from Clare, his eyes angry.

I pulled out of the driveway to head back home.

"Merry Christmas Chase," Clare said, trying to catch his gaze. He still wouldn't turn to look at her.

"What's wrong?" she asked immediately, scooting over to be closer. Chase shrunk farther into the window. Clare reached out and touched his arm.

"Your dad?" she asked quietly.

Bella and I both turned to look at each other, surprised by her question. As far as we knew, Clare was oblivious to what was going on in Chase's house. Chase never spoke about it out loud, and we were all under the impression that he never mentioned anything to Clare. Obviously we were wrong.

He nodded to her question, still not looking at her.

"Oh," she replied. She rested her head on his shoulder in silence. He still wasn't moving, but his face relaxed a bit, his arms loosening.

"Here," she said after a moment, handing him his present. "I got this for you."

He turned a shade of red and picked up the box. "I, uh, I don't have anything for you Clare…my mom was too busy to take me." He dropped his head a little shamefully.

"That's okay," said Clare smiling brightly, "I still have this," she told him, fingering the silver horse that hung around her neck.

He looked slightly mollified, and went to open the present. He beamed at his new mitt, "Thank you," he whispered, looking at her for the first time.

She resumed resting her head on his shoulder and they lapsed into a comfortable silence for the rest of the ride.

The second we got out of the car though, Alice skipped over to hug Chase. The girls in the family were very fond of him, and sometimes, I noticed, they embarrassed him a little with their enthusiasm. Merry Christmases were exchanged, and we settled into the living room together.

Clare, Chase, and Emmett were now glued in front of the television. Alice was upstairs sorting out all of Clare's new clothes, while Jasper and Rosalie were outside inspecting the new motorcycles. Esme and Carlisle had just left for their Christmas party.

Bella was once again snuggled under my arm, reading one of her new books. I was relaxing, reading with her over her shoulder.

I saw movement from the corner of my eye and watched as Clare stood up.

"Let's go play with your new glove," she said, holding out her hand for him to take. He stood up, without taking her hand and followed her into the kitchen.

"Don't forget your hat!" shouted Bella, without looking up from her book.

"Oops!" Clare replied running back to the hall closet, and taking out two pairs of mittens, two scarves, and an extra coat for Chase. I watched them run out the backdoor, grabbing two baseball gloves on the way out. Carlisle had just gotten her one for Christmas too, in case she wanted to play with Chase.

I nuzzled up closer to Bella, and resumed reading over her shoulder. After a few moments, we heard Alice squeal loudly from upstairs. I narrowed my eyes and saw an image of Clare and Chase outside in her head.

"What!?" I yelped, immediately springing up and rushing to the backdoor.

"Don't you dare Edward Cullen," warned Alice from upstairs, and I stopped momentarily looking back at Bella with a panicked face.

"Bella! Rose! Get up here!" she called. I sighed heavily and heard the door from the garage opening. Rosalie and Jasper walked in with confused faces.

"What's going on?" she asked, wringing her hands on a grease towel.

"Not sure," Bella answered, "Alice wants us to go up there."

With that, Bella and Rosalie traipsed upstairs, closely followed by Jasper and I, and finally Emmett.

I ending up storming into the room first, heading straight for the window. Alice jumped up and down excitedly when Bella and Rosalie walked in, and I all but pushed her out of the way. I felt the rest of my family gather around me.

"Oh! That is too cute," cried Rosalie.

All the girls gazed dreamily out of the window. Chase was leaning up against a tree and Clare stood about two feet in front of him, but they were holding hands, talking softly.

"I need a picture of this," said Alice, rushing over to grab her camera out from under her bed. She came over and snapped about six pictures.

We could hear their conversation, and the room grew deathly silent as we all listened.

"I hate him," Chase said, staring at the ground. "He always ruins everything."

"He doesn't mean it," said Clare soothingly. "I'm sure he loves you."

Chase scoffed and shifted a rock around with his foot. "He doesn't really show it," he mumbled. He suddenly looked up and seemingly just became aware of their locked hands. He nervously let go and shoved his hands in his pocket.

"You're lucky," he told her. "You have a perfect family." He turned toward the house and we all ducked. Luckily he didn't notice.

Clare smiled shyly and nodded. "Yes, they are perfect," she began honestly, "But they're not my first family."

Chase's head snapped up. "They're not?"

"No," she answered. "My parents died. I still dream about them sometimes I think, and I remember some things, but…" she trailed off, furrowing her brows for a second.

Chase was looking at her curiously. "So you're adopted?"

She nodded and smiled. "Yes, I am happily adopted."

Chase smiled back and took his hands out of his pocket. "Want to play, then?" he asked, gesturing to the abandoned mitts lying on the ground next to them.

Clare didn't answer, but she suddenly leaned forward, and placed a quick kiss on his lips. Chase froze, leaning wide eyed against the tree. Clare backed up quickly and grabbed her mitt off the ground.

"C'mon," she waved, almost as if nothing had happened.

Chase stared after her, stunned, and still unmoving. He brought a hand up to his lips as he bent down to get his own glove to join her.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!?" Emmett shrieked, bounding over to the door. But Rosalie was faster and she blocked his exit.

"That was little kiss!" she retorted, glaring at him. "It's no big deal!"

"No big deal!?" I interrupted. "They are EIGHT YEARS OLD!"

Bella rolled her eyes, "Stop overreacting Edward, it was just a small kiss of comfort."

"Kiss of comfort," sneered Jasper, glaring back out the window. He spun towards Emmett. "This is all your fault you know!"

"Me!" yelled Emmett, looking scandalized. "How is this my fault!?"

Jasper walked toward him with narrowed eyes and threw an accusing finger in his face. "SEX!" he shouted loudly, throwing his hands into the air. "You and Rosalie are _**freaks**_!" He hissed the words so menacingly that Emmett took a small step back.

"Would everyone relax?" Bella said again, a little more loudly this time. "Rose is right; this is not a big deal. But if it would make everyone feel better, we can have a little talk with her when Chase goes home."

Emmett nodded angrily and everyone left the room. Chase didn't go home until around 8:00, so we were all pacing around the house anxiously for the rest of the day.

"You have to do it." Emmett whispered to me as we made our way downstairs.

"Me? Why me?" I said fervently, stopping to look at him.

He ignored me and went to sit on the couch. Once we were all gathered together, we called for Clare.

"Clare?" called Alice loudly, "Could you come in for a second?"

Clare was outside feeding September, and her cheeks were flushed as she bounded into the house and pounced on Emmett's lap.

"What's up?" she asked, looking at all of us blankly.

No one said anything, and I felt Bella's elbow go straight into my ribs.

"OW!" I cried, glaring at her. I looked up to see Clare looking at me expectantly.

"Well Clare," I began formally, "We wanted to talk to you about something…important."

"Okay," she said evenly, looking directly into my eyes.

"We um…well that is…today…do you think…" I couldn't find the right words to say. I didn't even know how to have this conversation with an eight year old.

"We saw you kiss Chase today!" blurted out Emmett, tensing up his shoulders.

Clare jumped back at his sudden outburst, but laughed and patted his chest. "Are you okay Emmett?"

"No," he replied, turning to her with a pleading look. "Why did you kiss Chase today?"

"Oh, umm…well he was really upset, and I've seen all of you do it." She said calmly, bringing her eyes back to me.

"SEE!" shouted Jasper getting up out of his seat, "_**Freaks**_!" he hissed again.

"Freaks?" Clare repeated, looking at Jasper.

"Would you shut up!" said Rosalie, glowering at him.

"Clare," I began in an exasperated tone. "You're a little young to kiss anyone, even if it was to make him feel better. It's better to wait until you're older, and you really like someone."

"I like Chase," she said happily. "He's my best friend."

"Yes, but, people don't usually kiss their best friends, only their girlfriend or their boyfriend, and when they are much _older_."

"Should I ask Chase to be my boyfriend then?" she said, looking a little apprehensive.

"_NO_!" Emmett, Jasper and I all shouted at the same time. "No no no," I said, "You are way too young for a boyfriend."

"Oh, alright," she said sweetly, jumping off Emmett's lap. She whirled back around. "Wait, is that it?" she asked.

"Just no kissing," I replied. We watched her retreat back out into the backyard.

"That was easy," said Emmett, putting his feet up on the coffee table.

"Oh yeah big help you were," Bella scoffed at him.

He ignored her comment, and we looked out the window just as Clare galloped by, her hair blowing in the wind.

**Author's Note**: **Before I get flamed for having them kiss! I really didn't mean it in anything but a really sweet and innocent way! Really, a kiss of comfort, nothing else, lol. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Ha ha ha ha ha…. sorry I was just laughing thinking that anyone thought I actually owned these characters.**

**Author's Note: Hey! As you will see, I have skipped a couple years, and Clare is now 13. I feel as if I did the whole childhood thing, and everyone probably has a pretty good idea of what her childhood was like. But if it is bothering anyone, I will give you an idea. Clare has had a wonderful and privileged childhood with the Cullen Family. It has been quite a number of happy years, for everyone involved, including our vampire family. Clare still doesn't know about them being vampires, but she will soon find out, not to mention there are many problems on the way!! ) (Evil smile) **

**Clare is now ****13**

**Edward's POV**

I closed my eyes, reveling in the feeling of having my wife beside me. It was about 5:00 in the morning, and ever since Bella had become a vampire many years ago, night time had become ours. During the days, everyone was incredibly busy, bustling around, taking trips, involving our lives happily around Clare's schedule.

She was quite busy now, she had become a skilled horse back rider, not to mention she was extremely involved in her school. She was a member of her middle school dance team, and a treasurer of her class government, which she planned on continuing when she entered high school next year. She was indeed a model student, but that wasn't what we found most endearing about her.

Clare was turning into a beautiful young woman. We often had young boys calling the house, looking to talk to her. However, I wasn't too keen on that, and neither were my brothers. The only time that she would be able to speak with them is if one of our wives made it to the phone first. And it wasn't just that she was beautiful, it was her personality that attracted so many people to her. It was as if she had each one of us embedded in her somewhere. Rosalie's confidence and poise, Alice's grace and positive outlook on life, Bella's down to earth demeanor and her perception, Emmett's sense of humor and carefree attitude, Jasper's empathy and thoughtfulness, and I even found in her a bit of my charm and sensibility.

Clare was very sociable, and spent her free time with a nice group of friends, and of course, there was Chase. Chase and she were still as close as ever, but there had been small changes throughout the years that I couldn't help but notice. Where Clare would once greet him with enthusiasm, it was replaced with a slightly embarrassed hug, which sometimes would linger just a bit too long. Since I could always read Chase's thoughts, I was very aware of his developing feelings for her. The whole family would catch him staring at her, while she, of course, remained oblivious to it. Clare also was harboring some deeper feelings for him, but she tried very hard to force it out of her mind, thinking that there was no way that he returned her affection.

Chase was also turning into a great young man. He was very involved with baseball, and my brothers and I would spend a lot of time playing with him outside in the backyard. Although he never noticed, there were several girls who were interested in him. But even if he was too young to see it, he was attached to Clare, and didn't even bother to acknowledge any of the other young girls around him.

Bella, Alice, and Rosalie made me promise not to interfere, and I was only too happy to oblige. I wasn't going to push her into any relationships by informing them of the requited feelings that they had for each other. In my eyes, she was still too young, and I wasn't looking forward to the day that one of them made a move on their feelings.

I pulled Bella in closer and placed a soft kiss on her hair. She sighed and leaned back gently onto my chest. Even though I had been alive for over a century, I never learned more than I did these past years with Bella and Clare. The ability to be happy and the ability to love opened my eyes to the important things in life. My family, especially Bella, was my entire world. I didn't know how long we were going to be on this earth, but we had certainly been making the most of it.

"Tell me your favorite day ever," Bella said turning up to look at me. "Do you remember we talked about that once, that day in the mountains?"

"Yes," I nodded, "The day you agreed to marry me, and it still hasn't changed, because without that day, we would never have this," I gestured to me and her.

She remained silent and a coy smile graced her lips. "Tell the time you remember most, you know, the time that stands out, of us making love."

At her words, I found myself getting worked up, as I always did. I pushed her gently onto the ground to hover over her. "I haven't forgotten any time that we have, I remember every single one, individually."

I bent my head and began to kiss her collarbone, making her shiver. "But," she started breathlessly, "There has to be one time, that you remember the most."

I shook my head, and brought my lips up to her mouth. "Every time," I told her. And it was true, I had a great memory. I pressed myself up against her, remembering the time only this morning, and the time yesterday, and the time the day before, and every time for the past 12 years. And there were _a lot_.

We kissed passionately for a moment, lost in a world that was only ours. We were lying by the glass window in our room that was once again just Bella's and mine. Clare had opted for her own room when she was about nine years old, and she was now right down the hall from us, still close that we could hear her just in case she had a nightmare.

Our bedroom door swung open revealing a very frantic Alice.

"Alice, what's wrong?" Bella asked, squirming out from under me.

"It's Clare," Alice whispered, wringing her hands nervously as she walked toward us. She looked troubled, and her eyes were wide with fear.

"What happened," Bella and I said at the same time, standing up automatically.

"She…she…she," Alice couldn't seem to get the words out. But I noticed she was staring directly at Bella when she said it, and wasn't quite meeting my eye.

"What's going on?" I interrupted her stuttering, extremely annoyed. Alice was blocking her thoughts on purpose, and the only time she did that, was when she didn't want me to know something. It looked as if she wanted to just tell Bella, but with me in the room, they couldn't communicate through their thoughts.

A loud scream suddenly echoed through the house, and we all rushed out, heading to the source of the noise: Clare's room.

Emmett, Rosalie, and Jasper flew around the corner just as Bella, Alice and I made it to the door.

Alice positioned herself directly outside, blocking our entrance inside

"Alice, move!" Jasper said, trying to push around her, "Clare's hurt, we need to help her."

"She's not hurt!" Alice shouted, a little too loudly. "She…she…she."

"Alice!" I yelled, irritated now. "What is wrong with Clare?"

Alice weakened a bit under our intense gaze. She closed her eyes and motioned with her hand for us to lean forward. We bent in eagerly.

"She, well, she just got her period," Alice whispered, soft enough so that Clare wouldn't hear us discussing her outside the door.

I stiffened for a moment; my desire to barge into the room completely gone. I knew all about this phase of womanhood, probably more than the average human girl, but still, it was never a conversation topic or worry in the Cullen house.

Alice leaned back against the door, and crossed her arms looking very unsure of herself. Her thoughts were guilt-ridden, she of course, was also well aware of the mechanics of it, but she didn't remember her human life, and knew that she couldn't relate to Clare, or give her the answers to any of her questions.

Emmett looked about ready to bolt, and Jasper was running his hands through his hair nervously, backing away slowly from the door. Rosalie wore the same expression as Alice, guilty because she couldn't really remember what is was like anymore.

All at once, five eyes turned towards Bella. She was standing there deep in thought, and when she finally noticed us she rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, I remember everything about it very well," I saw a small shudder rock through her as she seemed to be replaying something in her mind. I tried to think back and remember the days when Bella was human, and was going through her cycle. I definitely noticed, but there was no way that she or I would have ever mentioned it back then. Apparently it was not something discussed between a vampire boyfriend and his human girlfriend.

Bella turned to us and began whispering just as soft as Alice had been. "Look, this is a very sensitive time in a girl's life, it's not fun, it's not a milestone that needs to be remembered with pictures and celebration," at this she glared at Alice.

"It also can be painful," continued Bella, scrunching her face, lost in her memories again. "It is definitely something that I don't miss."

Bella knocked quietly on the door, "Clare? Is everything all right? We heard you scream." We all stood stock still, waiting anxiously for her response. I heard a slight sniffle before she answered.

"Um…I'm okay…but…um I need to talk to you…can you give me five minutes though?" she asked, sounding as if she was going to break into tears again.

"Of course," answered Bella, "I'll be in my room whenever you're ready." We all silently trudged into our room. It wasn't really something bad, it was normal, she was growing up. But it was the first time we felt unprepared, and I knew it wasn't only me who wasn't enjoying that feeling.

We gathered onto the bed, all seemingly lost in thought.

"Snap out of it everyone," Bella said with a laugh. "It was bound to happen sometime." She came over and crawled into my lap.

"But, Rose and I are women too, we should know everything about it" said Alice sadly, "But I have no idea what it's like, I feel useless." She buried her head into Jasper's shoulder, and he patted her a bit awkwardly, feeling a bit weird to be comforting his wife about periods.

"I can explain it," offered Bella. "I know you know the logistics of it, but there is a lot more to it than what you can read in a book."

"Will you?!" said Alice, lifting her head. "So then we can pretend," she beamed, looking toward Rosalie who was also smiling.

"Emmett! Where are you going!?" Rosalie suddenly hissed, as she spotted Emmett trying to sneak out the door. Emmett turned around looking defiant.

"Why do I have to listen?" he said incredulously. I silently agreed with him. There was no way that Clare would want to talk about this with Jasper, Emmett, or me.

"Because!" Rosalie snapped, "This is important, we have to know all we can, just in case she has questions!"

"She isn't going to ask me about her period Rose," he retorted, glaring at her. Rosalie crossed her arms, glowering at him. After about ten seconds of the silent standoff, he sighed heavily and slumped back on the bed.

"Now," Bella stated, facing Alice and Rosalie. "Once a girl gets her period, she will continue to get it, every month around the same time."

I nodded, trying to give her as much attention as my male mind could possibly muster.

"Usually, a girl bleeds for about 4-7 days. There is a heavier blood flow in the beginning, and then gets lighter towards the end."

Emmett pulled a pillow over his face.

"But as I said, she is going to be very sensitive and emotional. Her estrogen is on overdrive right now, and it may cause her to be a bit moody."

"Moody?" squeaked Jasper, looking nervous. He did not have much experience dealing with hormone driven teenage girls, and he was currently thinking about all the new emotions that would be drifting around the house.

"Yes, moody," said Bella, throwing him a mild look of annoyance. "But don't complain about it because it's not fun for her either. Now," Bella said, as she began talking a bit animatedly with her hands. "That isn't the only symptom. There are headaches, sore back, tiredness, bloating, and worst of all, cramps."

"Excuse me!?" shrieked Emmett, looking absolutely appalled. He threw the pillow off his face and stared disbelievingly at Bella. "Can you please repeat those symptoms?"

Bella ran back over the list while Emmett sat there horrified. "WOW," he said, in a shocked but disgusted voice, trying to imagine a world there something like this could exist. "You mean to tell me, that when woman walk around leaking their dead blood, they're going through all of that??"

"Yes," Bella answered proudly, but then her face turned menacing. "But don't you dare call it _leaking dead blood_ around Clare, that is incredibly rude Emmett" she snapped.

Emmett turned to me and shook his head, mouth still wide open, stunned at the whole concept.

The door slowly creaked open, and Clare walked in. She looked a bit pale, and her eyes were red around the edges from crying. My heart immediately sunk. At the sight of all of us congregated on the bed, she stopped and a Bella-esque blush began creeping up her cheeks.

I heard Rosalie growl silently at Emmett, followed by a loud snap as he closed his mouth.

"Bella, Alice, Rosalie," she began nervously, avoiding eye contact with the males in the room. "Can I speak to you for a moment?"

"Of course," Bella answered, hopping off the bed, followed closely by Alice and Rosalie. Clare turned and quickly fled from the room, and I felt an overwhelming sense of sadness. This had to be hard for her, the least we could do is make sure were sensitive to her feelings.

"Oh no!" Bella stopped abruptly and whispered something quietly in Alice's ear. Alice's eyes widened for a second, but then she whispered something back, just as quietly. Bella nodded, and suddenly they were both looking at the three of us, unmoved from our positions on the bed.

"Edward," Bella called me in her sweetest tone. _Uh oh_. I raised my eyebrows at her.

"Clare's going to need some tampons," she said, looking directly at me. I couldn't hide the look of anticipation on my face. "Can you three go pick some up? We obviously don't have any in the house, and it's going to be really unbelievable that with between four women, we don't have anything to give her."

Before I could say no, all three of them dashed out of the room to find Clare.

We sat there, all of us afraid to speak.

"Tampons?" said Jasper with a furrowed brow. "Where would we find something like that?"

"The grocery store?" I suggested, having no idea myself. I had only been to the grocery store once in my life, and I certainly was not looking around for tampons. "We could check there first."

"But that's where the humans keep their food!" Emmett shouted, looking at me as if I was mental. "They wouldn't possible keep the dead blood catchers in the same place as what they eat…would they?" He looked stunned at the very idea.

"I think they do," mused Jasper. "I mean, there's no blood on them to start out with," he shuddered for a second, seemingly trying to dislodge that train of thought from his brain.

Emmett scoffed and rose of the bed. "Let's get this over with."

We got to the nearest Stop and Shop fairly quickly, all of us clearly on edge. There was certainly a first time for everything, and I, Edward Cullen, shopping for tampons, proved that point to me inexplicably.

"How are we supposed to find them?" whispered Jasper out of the corner of his mouth. He was eyeing all the humans nervously, and I had to admit, that the grocery store was alarming. Everyone bustling around, pushing carriages, and trying to calm their screaming children, it was madness, and it was doing just that, driving Jasper mad.

"Okay, this can't be too hard, look there's signs above each aisle," I said, pointing to the first sign that had fruits/vegetables splayed across it.

We walked carefully, looking over each sign for something that would give us a clue to where we needed to be. I considered asking someone who worked there, but that thought was not particularly appealing.

Finally, the second to last aisle donned the words, 'Women's Health and Body Care."

"This is probably it," I muttered, taking a cautious step into the aisle. There were several women already eyeing us curiously.

"I don't like this," Jasper said weakly, eyes wide as he took in all the woman. I looked around to see that there were stacks and piles of feminine products everywhere I turned, a large blur of pink, white and light blue. We stopped warily in front of a tab that had the word tampons on it.

"At least we found it," I offered, trying to quell the panic rising in me at the sight of all the different kinds.

"How are we supposed to know which one to get?" said Emmett in an annoyed voice "There's like… hundreds of different choices!" He reached out and picked up the first box he saw, it was light pink, and had the figure of a woman on it.

"Gentle glide? What the hell does that mean?" He ripped open the top and pulled out one of the plastic applicators. I myself had never seen a tampon, neither had my brothers, so all three of us gathered around it to take a look.

Emmett was glaring at the tampon through narrowed eyes. "This is it? How in the world does this work?!"

"I think you have to take off the wrapper," I optioned, remembering some commercials that I had seen. I heard a soft rip as Emmett removed the paper, and pulled out a spiral of cotton, seemingly wrapped in plastic, attached to a string.

"This is insanity," yelled Emmett, as he dangled the tampon from his fingers. "What does this little thing have to do with gentle glide, or stopping blood flow!?"

A woman cleared her throat loudly next to us, and I threw her an apologetic smile.

"Stop it Emmett," I hissed, "You're being too loud."

"Maybe because this is the most _irrational_ thing I have ever seen, I mean, where does this little thing even go?"

"Where do you think Emmett," Jasper whispered fervently. Jasper and I knew exactly where it would go, and we tried to communicate it to Emmett through our narrowed eyes and silence, hoping we wouldn't have to say it out loud.

Emmett glared back, waiting for an answer, until the wheels in his head started clicking, and I knew he had just figured it out. "Oh dear God," he cried, looking absolutely mortified. He dropped the tampon immediately, and covered his face with his hands. He walked farther down the aisle muttering to himself. I caught the words gentle glide and scarred for life.

I sighed heavily and turned to Jasper, who was facing the array of boxes, reading off the titles.

"Playtex sport," he mused, picking up a blue and white box. "Is this one solely for active women?" He turned to me with a thoughtful expression. "She's pretty active, with dancing and stuff, maybe she needs this one."

"But what about this," I interrupted, picking up another box with the slogan 'For Heavy and Light days.' "Didn't Bella say something about going heavier to lighter?"

"True," said Jasper. "Maybe we should get both."

"Wait!" yelled Emmett from farther down the aisle; he was frantically waving a package in his hand. Several women turned to stare at him.

"Look, it says for first timers," he ran over to us and thrust the package under my nose. "This is some sort of cotton pad, and if you ask me, much better than those…er…tampon things." He said eyeing the boxes we were holding with distaste.

"Just come check them out," he goaded, leading us over to the display of pads. There was even more of a selection to choose from, and Jasper and I balked once again at having to pick out which one was best.

"Wings??" Jasper was staring incredulously at a small package. "What are they playing at?" He mimicked Emmett and ripped open the package, a little too harshly, because 20 some odd pads cascaded onto the floor.

"There's so many!" Jasper whispered, not making a move to pick them up.

I dropped down to gather them, trying to shove them back into the package. Emmett grabbed one and eyed it curiously. "Where's the wings?" he asked me.

"You probably need to remove the wrapper again," I said through gritted teeth, picking up the last of the pads and hiding them behind other boxes of the shelf. "Just like the tampons."

"Why do they hide them in this paper, isn't that a waste of time?" He ripped open the pad, and unfolded a long piece of sticky cotton on to his hand. He watched with wonder as he turned his palm over, and the pad stayed stuck to it.

"Ingenious!" He cried, "Let's get Clare these!" He began rapidly pulling off type every pad there was, and pretty soon, his arms were full. We must have made quite the scene, three young men, with our arms full of feminine products.

"Do you want any help?" An older woman walked up to us, pushing a carriage. Emmett immediately dumped his armload into it. "Thanks ma'am," he said, but then looked at her with a curious expression.

"You've obviously already gotten your period right?" he asked, without a trace of shame. My mouth dropped open in disbelief. Jasper put his head into his hands in utter embarrassment.

"Excuse me?" she retorted. It was obvious that she was completely taken aback by his sudden and personal question.

Emmett continued as if nothing was amiss. "Our sister just got her period, and well, besides these blood catchers-" Before he could finish the sentence, I nudged him in the ribs with such force that he almost fell over.

"Uh tam-pons," he mouthed correcting himself. "Is there anything else we should get for her?"

Her mouth twitched, and I couldn't tell if she was fighting a smile, or trying to quell her anger. "Yes," she finally said. "Come with me."

She led us down to the opposite end of the aisle, and grabbed a small white box off the shelf. "Midol," she said, dropping the package into Emmett's hand. "Pills to ease the symptoms."

Jasper swiped it out of Emmett's hand to eagerly read the back. "Hey," he said with a frown. "This doesn't say that it will help with the moodiness." Poor Jasper, he was really not looking forward to the mood shifting that Clare would be experiencing

The woman laughed out loud. "I've got something for that too."

So about fifteen minutes later, we left, with three different bags of tampons and pads, three boxes of Midol, and every single kind of chocolate that we could find.

Back at the house, we could tell the girls were still congregated in the upstairs bedroom, but luckily, all we could hear was laughter. Jasper let out a huge sigh of relief. The second we walked in, all four of them charged down the stairs to greet us. Clare stood towards the back, a little awkwardly.

"Clare, here you go," I told her handing out one of the bags. "We picked you up some necessary items, for your um, situation." She smiled timidly at me and reached out to grab the bag, looking inside. The girls grabbed all the bags from us and began rifling through them.

"You got her chocolate!" Bella said sweetly, looking at me with doe eyes. "That was so thoughtful of you." She wrapped her hands tightly around my neck, and I beamed, glad to have got something right.

"You sure got a lot of different kinds," said Alice, holding up two of the packages.

"We wanted to be prepared, and let her choose," said Jasper with a warm smile, that Alice quickly returned.

"Midol," said Rosalie, throwing a frantic look at Bella, unsure of what the purpose was

"Oh you got her medicine too!" Bella answered. "That will definitely help with the cramps."

"Yes!" said Rosalie catching on, "Very considerate of you." She stood up and gave Emmett a soft kiss.

Clare laughed, with a slight blush on her cheeks, and took a seat on the steps, grabbing a piece of chocolate. She wasn't too embarrassed, because we all were so close. But the morning's events had left her a little exhausted.

I could sense one of our infamous lazy days coming on. We all delved into a huge conversation about the pros and cons of each type of pad and tampon. Luckily, none of us boys felt awkward anymore. The sound of the door opening interrupted us, and before we knew it, Chase came strolling into the room. On any other day, this wouldn't have been awkward. He spent the past 8 years coming to our house, and knocking was a formality that had long ago been dropped.

"What's going on guys?" he said brightly, smiling at Clare, who was now looking at all our purchases with a panicked face.

"Hey Chase, how are you?" I said in an attempt to ease the tension, trying to hide the box of thin style panty liners behind my back.

"Good," he said, eyeing the floor curiously. "What's all this?" He bent down a picked up a box of tampons to read the label. "Perfect for first timers," he said aloud. His voice echoed around the silent room.

Comprehension dawned on his face, and he suddenly turned a bright shade of red, that actually blended in nicely with his hair. He placed the package down gently and became a bit nervous, trying to avoid eye contact with Clare. He stared at me instead.

"I guess you need a lot of choices the first time huh," he said, finally looking at Clare, trying to diffuse the situation with humor.

Her eyes filled with tears, she stood up quickly and stormed up the stairs, slamming her door in mortification.

Chase's face crumpled as he watched her go, and he looked to the rest of us anxiously. "I'm so sorry, I didn't know…I…" he trailed off, putting his hands in his pockets.

"It's okay," said Bella, standing up to go to follow Clare. "You didn't do anything wrong." She placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Do, do you mind if go talk to her?" He asked, looking at Bella.

Bella paused for a moment, surprised that this thirteen year old boy would be so brave. "Sure," she finally said, stepping back so he could make his way up the stairs.

Obviously, the second Clare's bedroom door closed, all six of us gathered around to listen. I stood my ground when Emmett tried to push me out of the way, since I had acquired the best spot, I could see through her keyhole.

"Hey Clare," we heard him stammer nervously. He was standing as far from her as possible. "How, how are you feeling?"

"Just fine," she answered a bit roughly, "Same as always."

"Oh."

A small silence lapsed before Clare sighed and dropped onto her bed. "It's not a big deal Chase; you don't have to act weird about it."

"I'm not acting weird about that; I just thought you were mad at me, so I came up to apologize." He inched closer to her, a pleading look on his face. He really hated it when they weren't getting along. "So, I'm sorry."

Her face was bright red when she turned to look at him, but a small smile graced her lips. "It's fine, you don't have to be sorry. I was just a little embarrassed."

He smiled in response.

Bella turned to me happily, Clare and Chase had such an honest relationship with each other, and it was near-unbelievable how well they connected, even at times like this.

Chase looked completely relieved and sat down at the chair by her desk. A mischievous smile crossed his face for a fleeting moment, before his whole face became clouded with pain. "Oh god," he said, holding his stomach. "Clare," he turned to her desperately. "Help me."

"Chase!" Clare jumped off her bed frantically, and went to kneel beside him. "What is it? What's wrong?"

He fell off the chair in dramatic fashion, and began rolling around tirelessly on the floor. "It hurts…so bad," he said in a breathless voice, still clutching his stomach.

Clare bent down next to him, and held his face between her hands. "What is it? How can I help you, what do you need?!"

I saw his look of pain falter for a moment, as he stared back up at her, surprised at how close their faces were. We watched as they gave each other such tender looks, that I almost felt bad to be spying. Almost immediately, he resumed his breathless cries.

"Clare," he said, ripping his gaze from her, and closing his eyes. "Can you get something for me?" He was writhing around in pain.

"Anything," she vowed, her eyes clouding up with tears, hating to see him hurting.

He let out a shaky breath. "Could you get me some…some….chocolate? I have such bad cramps."

For a moment, Clare just stared at him in astonishment. But as the sly smile began to creep over his face, she reacted.

"Oh! You!" She got up, reached onto her bed for a pillow, and swung it down onto his face. Chase was in absolute hysterics over his little joke, and began to try and fight her off.

"I can't believe you!" she squealed, attacking him fiercly with her pink pillow. He squirmed underneath her, trying to catch his breath.

Eventually, Clare began to laugh too, and we stopped spying once we knew that everything would be okay.

**Author's Note:** **Okay, just one thing. I know that Emmett seemed a little dumb when it came to the tampons thing, but it's not because I think Emmett himself is stupid. Of course he isn't, he has been alive for a long time and has been through school. But human boys don't even know the finer details of how things work, vampire boys, who never have to even think about that, wouldn't know anything either. At least in my mind. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: Clare is 16! Aw, little Clare is sure growing up! So this one is a bit short, but I am going to update later tonight. I wanted to leave you guys with a little cliffhanger!! **

**Edward's POV**

It was a beautiful and sunny day, perfect temperature for numerous outdoor activities. Where we lived, weather like this was a rarity, and many of our neighbors were out taking advantage of it. For us however, nice days meant only one thing: Cullen Movie Marathon. We had adopted the tradition of lounging around all day, watching endless amounts of films, whenever we were forced to stay indoors. We all enjoyed this time together, usually, but today was Rosalie's turn to pick what we were watching, and I found myself mundanely bored after the 6th back to back episode of America's Next Top Model. But it seemed Bella and I were the only ones not completely engaged.

"I can't believe they just sent her home!" Emmett flopped back on the couch staring angrily at the TV.

"I told you they would," Rosalie said in bored yet triumphant tone, "She was dull, all her pictures looked exactly the same."

"I disagree actually," piped in Jasper. "The mood of her picture totally changed once she dyed her hair dark." He was perched on the edge of the couch with Alice tucked between his legs. Alice was silent, but she wore a smug smile. We kept having to tell her to be quiet and not give away the ending.

"Well," Rosalie answered, looking up from her nails, "That was her problem, she dyed her hair dark."

I felt Bella shift beside me to glare angrily at her, and I noticed Alice doing the same thing. Rosalie looked up, saw their faces, and rolled her eyes. "Obviously not you two," she said in a playful tone. "You know, how fun would it be if we all tried out for the show, obviously we would all make it," she said, waving her hand dismissively in front of her, "But it would be interesting to see which of the three of us came out the winner."

Before anyone could respond, Clare stormed angrily into the house, slamming the door loudly behind her. As soon she began to make her way up the stairs, Chase appeared in the doorway, his eyes hot with fury.

"Clare!" he shouted, "Get back here, we are going to talk about this!"

Clare spun around, her hair cascading wildly around her. "There is nothing to talk about Chase! Get out of my house!"

Alice muted the TV, and we became quiet. I knew they were aware of us sitting there, and I also knew that both of them were too mad to care. This was a first; I had never seen Clare and Chase fight like this. They both were passive people, and Chase had spent a lot of his childhood arguing with his father, so he tried to avoid it all costs.

"Nothing to talk about!? I'm sure I could think of a few things!" he retorted sarcastically, eyes never leaving her face. "How about the fact that you are going out with Greg _Spencer_ tonight!" he spat at her.

"You're going out with _who_?" Emmett interrupted.

They both ignored him.

Clare put a hand on her chest, her mouth dropping open in mock surprise. "You noticed? How could you hear or see anything with Alexis's big breasts in your face!" she answered in a sickly sweet tone.

I heard Rosalie's sharp intake of breath, and Emmett's mouth dropped wide open.

Chase turned bright red and clenched his fists down at his sides. "_She_ came to talk to me!" he hissed through gritted teeth. "What was I supposed to do, be rude!?"

"And was _I _supposed to be rude and say no to Greg Spencer?" she answered hotly, taking a step toward him until their faces were almost inches apart.

"Of course you were! You don't even _like_ Greg!" he screamed at her incredulously.

"Oh don't I?! You have no idea who I like and don't like Chase," she cried. Her stance was rigid, as if she was trying her best to hold back all her emotion. She looked positively livid, but her eyes betrayed her. They were swimming with sadness.

"Greg Spencer is an asshole!" Chase shrieked angrily. "You can't go out with him!" He dropped his hands to his sides, looking defeated as his voice cracked on his last word.

"Why can't I?" she whispered, as if it was only meant for him to hear. She took a final step down, so she was on the same stair as him. She titled her head back, and gazed into his eyes, searching his face for…something.

Chase tightened his mouth into a straight line, and stared down at her. His heart was throbbing loudly in his chest, and for a second, it was silent, all their anger was forgotten. For one small moment, I thought that this was it; they were finally going to open up about how they felt about each other. They were both thinking it. Clare was wishing that he would step up and admit his feelings, and finally claim her as his own. Chase was desperately trying to work up his courage to tell her how he felt; terrified that he would lose her to Greg, or someone else.

But neither spoke. After a pregnant pause, Clare's eyes began to water, and she reached up around her neck, unclasped her silver horse necklace, and shoved it in his hand.

He mouthed soundlessly for a moment, looking down at the chain he had given her for her birthday so many years ago. "I..I gave this to you." He mumbled.

"And I wore it for you."

She finally tore her eyes away from his and acknowledged that we were in the room.

"Alice," she said blinking rapidly, turning to walk back up the stairs. "Can you help me find an outfit, I have a date tonight."

She sniffed loudly and stalked away. Chase watched her go, rooted to the spot.

"Sure," said Alice getting up to follow her. She was excited about Clare having a date; she had been waiting for this day to come for years. But I knew she was sad that it wasn't with Chase. We were all expecting it to be.

She walked by Chase on the stairs, putting a comforting hand on his back as she passed. He closed his eyes, and ran his hands through his hair, huffing angrily. He looked at all of us for the first time. "Sorry," he mumbled.

I nodded my head, and watched as he left, looking completely miserable.

About two hours later, I knocked on her bedroom door.

"Clare?" I called, listening for a response.

"Come in Edward," she said quietly.

When I opened the door, she was curled up on her bed, eyes red from crying. I sat down next to her, but I didn't say anything just yet. I always waited for her to speak first. That was how our special talks usually worked throughout the years.

"Alice is downstairs getting my outfit," she mumbled. "For my date."

"Date hm?" I asked, sounding indifferent.

She nodded, and I watched another tear roll silently down her cheek. "I hate him." She said, lifting her head slightly to rest on her elbow. She was staring at her bed spread with an angry expression.

"You don't hate him, Clare." I answered. I already knew she was talking about Chase and not her date, and she knew that I knew. There was no need to beat around the bush about it.

"Yes I do," she said a bit childishly, burying her head back into her pillow. "I really do."

"Well…he doesn't hate you," I told her, running a soothing hand over her hair.

"He doesn't like me either," she responded sadly, her voice still muffled by the pillow.

"You don't know that." It killed me to see her sad like this. I wish I could tell her everything I knew, about how much Chase really did care about her. I knew that Bella and the girls were right; they had to figure it out for themselves. But I couldn't help but push her along, anything if she would cheer up just a little bit.

"Yes I do know that," she said, becoming more passionate. She rose up off the pillow to look at me. "He doesn't like me, if he did, he would have said something by now. I always give him hints, just like today, you saw, and he never says anything. All I do is embarrass myself. I have liked him for years Edward. And I have been just waiting for him to finally like me too. But he doesn't, he never will."

At this she threw herself into my arms and burst out crying. I held her close and whispered soft words in her ear, trying to cheer her up. After a few minutes, she pulled back and sat on her heels.

"It's so easy for you and Bella," she said, wiping her nose with her sleeve "You never have problems."

I almost laughed out loud. If she only knew all the trials and tribulations our relationship had been through. How we almost lost each other, more than once, and how much misery we had both endured, was almost unbelievable.

"Bella and I have not always had it easy," I told her seriously. "We have been through a lot to get where we are today."

"Really?" she asked resting her head on my shoulder, still sniffling slightly. "Tell me about it."

I reached up to wipe a tear from her eyes. "Another day," I said softly. Luckily Alice came bustling in the next moment, so the conversation was forgotten. I kissed Clare's forehead and swiftly exited the room.

"He just pulled up," I frowned, peeping between the curtains. Greg Spencer had officially arrived to pick up Clare. I followed my brothers as we barricaded ourselves in front of the door.


	7. Chapter 7

**Greg's POV**

"God, can their driveway be any longer?" I said out loud to myself. Not only had I almost missed the turn off, but the road to her house had to have been about 3 or 4 miles. But nothing could really ruin my mood, because tonight, I had a date with _Clare_ Cullen. She was definitely the hottest girl in the entire grade, and it was a known fact that she hadn't been on a date before. So tonight, was indeed my lucky night.

It wasn't as if she didn't have the opportunity to date, because there were plenty of guys that were willing to take her out. A lot of people assumed it was because of her older brothers, who were supposedly very protective of her. I had seen them once at our school's dance competition, when Clare was performing. They were _certainly_ not anyone I would want to mess with.

Others said that it was because of Chase Turner, the red head from the baseball team, but obviously she didn't like him if she was going out with me. I smiled to myself and checked my reflection in the mirror once more…Perfect, I thought. I ran my tongue over my teeth and stepped out of the car.

_Whoa, _is that a 911 turbo? I walked by, mouth agape, staring at the yellow Porsche. It must belong to one of her siblings. It was getting a little dark out, but I could see a light on in the living room. Feeling nervous all the sudden, I cleared my throat and walked up to the front door. I rang the doorbell, and stood back to wait.

I didn't have to wait very long, because the door flew open immediately. I heard a loud bang as it slammed against the wall.

I took an instinctive step back once I saw who had opened the door.

Her three brothers, all with their arms crossed, glaring at me angrily.

The one in the middle caught my attention first. I remembered him the most because he was probably one of the largest boys that I had ever seen, and I knew that he had been the one that threw the door open. The menacing look that he was giving me almost made me want to run back to my car. I backed up a little bit more.

The second taller one was leaning against the doorframe, with an evil smirk on his face. It was almost as if he was enjoying how scared they were obviously making me. I chanced a quick glance at my car, trying to decide if I could outrun them. _Could I possibly make it to my car?_

I heard a low chuckle come from her third brother who was standing off on the other side of the large one. He was a bit younger looking, and I felt his eyes intensely scrutinizing me, it was almost too much to bear. Every second that ticked by made me more fearful of my wellbeing.

"Um…is Clare here?" I finally managed to squeak out. I directed my question toward the youngest looking one, he seemed the safest.

"Who are you?" snapped the large one instead. My head jerked back to face him.

"Greg sir." _I had probably never called anyone sir in my life before this moment._

"Greg what?" questioned the tall one, still wearing the evil smirk.

"Spencer." I said in a breathy voice.

"Greg Spencer hm?" said the large one. "Are you sure about that?" He leaned into me with narrowed eyes, inches from my face.

"Y-yes," I stammered completely unconvincingly.

"You don't sound very sure," snapped the youngest one. _So much for him being safe_, I thought with a frown.

"How can you not be sure of your own name?" leered the tall one, uncrossing his arms.

"I...I am sure." I answered, trying to conceal my shaking voice. But it was no use, I was absolutely terrified.

"I think you're lying," the large one hissed, turning to his brothers, about to shut the door.

"I'm not lying," I said with a little more conviction; I couldn't let them close that door. There was no way I was going to have gone through all of this and not get my date with Clare.

He turned back to me with a wicked grin. I heard the youngest one laugh at something unknown to me. "Oh yeah? If you're not lying, then tell me your name, without trembling like a little girl."

That made me angry. Here I was trying my best and now they were just making fun of me on purpose. "Greg," I answered a little angrily.

"What?" said the tall one, cupping his ear. "I can't hear you, and trust me I've got great hearing."

"Greg," I responded even louder, a little louder than I normally would have if I wasn't so worked up.

"Greg what?!" shouted the youngest one, matching my volume.

"Greg Spencer!!" I shrieked with my fists balled my sides. I closed my eyes to try and stop the shaking of my body. I took a deep breath to calm my nerves.

"Is there some reason why you're screaming on my front porch Greg Spencer?" said the large one in an excruciatingly calm voice.

My eyes snapped back open to see all three of them back to glowering at me.

"Are you trying to disturb the neighbors?" asked the tall one, looking around at the obviously desolate land that surrounded their house.

"Is there something wrong with you? Do you have disorders that we should know about?" questioned the youngest one, taking a step forward.

I felt like they were closing in on me and I took yet another involuntary step back. Apparently it was one step too many, because to my utter shock, I lost my footing and tumbled awkwardly down the stairs into the yard. I wasn't hurt, but the fall had caught me completely off guard, and when I looked up, I saw her brothers hadn't moved, but their expressions had changed. It was obvious they were trying to suppress their laughter.

That was it, I'm going home. I stood up to leave.

"Emmett Cullen!" yelled a lovely sounding voice from inside. I turned back to the door and a gorgeous blonde stalked out, and stood before the three boys. I saw the large one wince slightly at her expression.

Before I knew it, two other amazingly hott girls came out wearing the same expression as the blond.

"What the _hell_ is wrong with you!" scolded the blonde one fiercely. She put her hands on her hips and looked up at the large one who was apparently named Emmett. It was startling to see that large intimidating boy turn to absolute mush.

"How could you do that to Clare's date?" said the cute girl with short black hair, who was craning her neck to look at the tall one, although it was obvious that she had the upper hand.

I saw a small pale hand in front of my face, and I realized that the third girl, a stunning brunette with the hottest pair of lips I've ever seen, was trying to help me up.

"Are you okay?" she asked, her voice like silk. "I apologize for them," she told me, turning to glare back at the youngest one who was staring at our connected hands furiously. Her skin was cold and hard, and so I also looked down at our conjoined hands to get a better look at her skin. When she saw what I was doing, she jerked her hand away immediately.

"Let's go inside," she said apologetically. I felt a little disappointed that she did not offer me her hand again. I warily climbed the steps refusing to meet her brother's eyes as I passed them. I thought I heard someone growling, but I was too afraid to check who it was.

I followed into the house, staying as close to the brunette as possible. She directed me to sit down on the sofa. To my dismay, she headed back towards the stairs with the other two girls right behind her. _How could they leave me down here with them!_

I gave the brunette what I hoped was a desperate look. She smiled encouragingly at me and turned to the youngest one. "Leave him alone…I mean it Edward. You'll regret it if you don't."

Edward, the youngest one, raised his eyebrows at her and cocked his head questioningly. The brunette narrowed her eyes, as if concentrating on something.

"Why will I regret it?" he said, sounding a bit childish.

"Think about it," pushed the brunette, climbing up the stairs. A few seconds later she called, "You got it!"

Edward sucked in air, and plopped onto the couch angrily. He turned to me with a gloomy expression. I wondered about their little exchange, but there was no way in hell I was going to ask him about it.

"That goes double for me!" said the blond one, disappearing out of sight.

The cute little one was last, but she turned to the tall one and gave him a quick nod, before she vanished.

I chanced a look up, and all the three of the brothers seemed hushed into silence. However, the large one caught my eye, he smiled and turned to his brothers. He walked over and sat down on the couch next to me.

"So Greg my boy, where are you taking Clare tonight?" he probed, sitting uncomfortably close and throwing a muscled arm roughly around my shoulder. My shoulder balked because of the weight, and I tried my best to keep sitting up straight.

"Movies," I answered, trying to keep my answers as quick as possibly. It seemed the best strategy.

"Are you paying for her?" asked the tall one.

"Yes," I answered, although I hadn't really thought about that yet. I suddenly hoped I had enough money, I had a feeling they could see right through me.

As if to prove my point, the youngest one Edward narrowed his eyes at me and got up himself to sit on my other side. He turned to face me, also sitting uncomfortably close.

"So Greg," he whispered, glancing to the stairs for a second. "Do you think my wife is 'hott'?" The word hott sounded foreign coming out of his mouth, like it wasn't natural for him to say it. I heard Emmett snicker beside me.

"Um…which one was she?" I asked, trying to sound calm.

"Oh you know," he answered patiently, "The one with the lips." He accentuated every word of that sentence and I heard Emmett burst into laughter beside me. His arm was shaking my entire frame.

I mouthed soundlessly for a moment not knowing what to say. I definitely was not going to tell him I thought his wife was probably the most striking girl I had ever seen, so I went with my gut reaction.

"Uh, no," I said, but it came out more like a question.

His face darkened and he stared back at me blackly. "You think my wife is ugly?" he spat back.

"How about my wife," said the large one, whispering creepily into my ear. "Is she ugly too?"

"Uh, no she's not ugly," I told him frantically.

"Oh! So Emmett's wife is not ugly, but mine is, is that it Greg Spencer?!" Edward stood up and grilled me forcefully. However, after hearing the laughter of his brothers, a smile appeared on his face and sat back down as if nothing happened.

"Don't worry," he mused. "I don't need you to tell me my wife is the _hottest _thing on the planet. I know you already think so."

I gulped loudly, silence was now my only ally.

Suddenly, the tall one got up and stood in front of me. I found myself surrounded and I could literally feel my heart beating out of my chest.

"Alright Greg Spencer," he said, "Enough games."

I looked up to find them staring at me with serious expression.

"Clare is…the beating heart of this family. If you even think about touching her, looking at her, or thinking about her inappropriately, you better stop yourself. Because we will know."

Somehow I didn't doubt that.

"She is the most important thing in each of our lives, and if you bring her back to us unhappy, or harmed in any way, you are going to regret it. Trust me," said Edward.

"You'll be dealing with me," said Emmett darkly. "We put Clare before anything else in this world."

I didn't know what to say, so I stayed silent. And I couldn't suppress the huge sigh of relief when I saw Clare appear at the top of the stairs.

**Author's Note: Thanks for readdddinggggg! I know it's still a bit shorter than normal, but I promise next chapter will be my normal size! Poor Greg huh? Not really, I'm a Chase fan myself ). Anyway, I have a little contest for you guys! Somewhere in this story, I have hidden the idea to my next story, I want to see if anyone can find it! **


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: Thank you for all the reviews I got! I am going to try and answer some of your questions here! Carlisle and Esme are still around of course! But I just wanted to concentrate on their relationship with Clare! Another is I will try to find a picture of Clare! I looked a bit, but I haven't found one that matches the description in my head. And yes, Clare and Chase are a little Ron and Hermione-esque, but can you blame me? I mean my penname is RonOrEds. haha**

"I don't like him," Emmett said casually as we all watched Clare and Greg pull out of the driveway.

"I think you made that pretty clear," snapped Rosalie, but I didn't miss the smirk she was trying to hide.

We all stood by the window for a moment lost in our own thoughts. I had to admit, I did behave a little rudely to Greg, but it was honestly stemming from my insecurity about the conversation I had with Clare right before she left. I hated to see her upset over Chase, and I knew just as well as anyone how hard love could be, and the absolute torment it put you through when something wasn't going right. I sighed and went to sit back on the couch. I motioned for Bella to come over.

"You know," I said, pulling her into my lap. "Clare asked me about us today."

"Oh?"

I nodded. "I told her I knew how hard it was to be in love, and that even we had to go through our fair share of heartache. Then she asked me to tell her about it, and I told her later….but when is later? We can't keep the truth from her forever; she is making comments and observations more regularly now."

Bella shook her head, taking in everything I had just told her. "You're right," she sighed, "She is becoming very suspicious. A few weeks ago she commented on our eating habits, and why we only seem to eat with her."

"She is always inquiring about the cold skin," piped in Jasper, joining us on the couch. "We've got to think of some way to tell her."

Everyone nodded in agreement. Even though no one voiced it, we were all thinking the same thing. Harboring the same fear, that if Clare found out what we truly we, she would think we were monsters, break her trust in us, and destroy the happy life that we had built with her.

My head jerked up at the sound of a car rumbling its way down the driveway.

"Do you think she changed her mind?" said Emmett happily, looking back at the window to see who was pulling up. We all got up in time to see Chase parking the car. He got out and nervously fumbled his keys as he ran to the front door.

Alice opened the door, and he charged in out of breath.

"Did she leave?" he panted, resting his hands on his knees. He looked at all of our faces anxiously, and seemed to get his answer from our silence.

"I'm too late then," he said angrily, turning bright red in the face. "AGHH!" he growled, running his hands through his hair. "God damnit!"

"Come sit down Chase, do you want some water?" soothed Alice, running a hand over his back. He shook his head roughly and sank onto the couch, burying his face in his hands.

"God damnit," he repeated, a little more softly.

I truly did feel bad for him, he was absolutely miserable, and I knew he thought he had lost Clare for good.

"Poor kid," muttered Emmett. "But he had his chance."

"I know that!" Chase suddenly shouted. Emmett looked embarrassed that he had overhead his comment.

"Sorry Emmett," he said sincerely, raising his head to look at all of us. "It's just…ugh, you guys wouldn't understand."

"Oh no? Try us," said Bella, walking over to sit next to him. "I'm sure there is _some_ way we could relate." She met my gaze and rolled her eyes with a smile.

Chase looked up at her for a moment, and then leaned his head back on the couch letting out a long breath. "I love her," he whispered. His expression told us that he felt that he had just let us in on a big secret.

I felt my face break out into a wide smile. I couldn't help but feel proud that he had finally admitted it out loud, which could be hard, as I well knew.

"And why wouldn't we be able to relate to that?" Bella questioned, gesturing to all of us. We all came and sat around him.

"I'm sure you can relate to that," he agreed. "But it's just… I have always loved Clare. Ever since the first day I met her in kindergarten…Of course, we were young then, but I just felt this strong connection to her, to protect her, a bond that…I don't know I can't explain it right." He slumped his head in defeat.

I exchanged a secret glance with Bella. How well everyone in the room knew exactly what he was talking about.

"She has been an amazing friend to me," he continued, "But I want more…no, I _need_ more. I can't _stand _the thought of her out with him right now. Because he doesn't even know her…not like I do anyway, he doesn't know how to take care of her. He doesn't know about her favorite foods, or the things that make her laugh, or the little things she is passionate about, or how she plays with her hair when she's nervous…." He trailed off shaking his head.

"Why didn't you tell her today?" I asked, pushing him to admit that to us and to himself the real reason.

"Because…what if she doesn't feel the same way? What if I tell her and it ruins our friendship? I could never live with myself…but sometimes, when she looks at me, I would swear she feels it too," he said becoming a bit more animated. "Sometimes, it's like…_we both just know_, and we both know that were not saying it out loud. It's like were supposed to be together, and we both know it. Sometimes…it feels like that."

Alice, Rosalie, and Bella were beaming. Emmett and Jasper looked a bit stunned, for they had not been privy to his thoughts like I had these past few years. Everyone knew that they cared deeply for each other, but they only knew what Bella and I would disclose to them.

"Is she worth taking that chance?" asked Emmett seriously. We all turned to Chase to hear his answer.

"Yes," he said, staring at Emmett sincerely. "I know she is. I'm just such an idiot, that I gathered my courage too late, and now she's gone."

"Well maybe not…" Emmett answered, a wide grin coming over his face. "I happen to know that Greg Spencer is taking her to the movies…" He paused to let the sentence speak for itself.

It became silent as everyone interpreted his double meaning. Everyone looked around the room at each other with straight faces, and it only took about four seconds for us all to rush quickly to the door.

**Greg's POV**

"You seem distracted, is everything alright?" I knew something was wrong; she had been sidetracked with something ever since we had left her house. This date was not going the way I had planned and it was really beginning to upset me, I was trying so hard here. "You haven't eaten anything at all," I pushed, trying to catch her gaze.

She jerked up, her mind obviously miles away. "What? Sorry I wasn't listening." Well, at least she had the decency to look guilty.

"I said you haven't eaten anything, aren't you hungry?"

"No, not really…"

There was an awkward silence while I tried to think of something to say. Once I opened my mouth to speak and ask if she had seen the preview for the movie we were going to see, her phone rang.

She held up her finger signaling me to wait.

"Hello?" she sang out. "Hey Emmett." Her face brightened more than it did all evening.

Oh GREAT, the large brother, I shuddered involuntarily and tried to tune out their conversation.

"Yes, I'm fine Emmett………Greg and I are at dinner right now……..Yes that's his real name……..no he didn't lie, were going to the movies afterward…….Tell Alice I said hi back…….Tell Jasper of course I miss him……"

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Could her family be anymore suffocating? It's like they were trying to ruin my date on purpose. I took an angry bite of my pasta.

"Yes……you do?...okay, sure….."

I balked when she held the phone out to me. "Here, Emmett wants to talk to you." She said it like it was the most normal thing in the entire world. I looked at the dreaded phone, who knows what else the large one wanted to say to me.

"H-Hello," I croaked, and then cleared my throat loudly. "Hello," I said more confidently.

"I'm watching you," he warned, and the line suddenly went dead. I held the phone up to my ear nervously, while Clare was watching my face with a curious expression.

"Okay I will…..Okay, bye!" I shouted to the dead line, and I handed her over her phone. I had the incredible urge leave the restaurant all the sudden, I didn't know whether to take him seriously or not.

"Let's get out of here, the movie is starting soon." I held out my hand to her, and she gave me her first real smile all evening.

**Edward's POV**

"The movie theatre sure is crowded tonight," said Bella, as we walked through the front doors, attracting the same amount of attention that we usually did. The movies were fun, but we tried to go when there weren't a lot of people around, definitely not a Friday night. I turned around to make sure that the rest of the family and Chase were behind me.

Chase was running on pure adrenaline. He was determined to find Clare and tell her exactly how he felt, and right now, there was nothing that was going to stop him.

"Their movie already started ten minutes ago," he said as he checked the times, "What should I do now?"

"Go in there and get her!" replied Emmett, "We'll come with you."

"If we all go in there, were going to cause a scene," whispered Bella as we made our way over to the entrance.

"Well do you want to miss this?" I said gesturing to Chase.

She bit her lip and smiled up at me. "Not a chance." I gave her swift kiss on her forehead, as we gathered together in a huddle outside the door.

"Okay," said Jasper, "We're going to have to sneak in there, Clare and Greg are towards the back luckily,"

"How do you know they're towards the back?" Chase asked suspiciously.

"Well….er, Clare always likes to sit in the back, whenever we go to the movies," Jasper responded quickly, throwing me a nervous glance. No need to tell Chase that we could smell her and determine exactly how far away from us she was.

"Right, well, let's go." I could tell he was losing some of his nerve. I gave him a pat on the back, "You're doing the right thing you know," I told him. "Maybe not in the best way, but I know how you feel."

He nodded, and we all followed him into the theatre.

"Get down!" shouted Rosalie, as we turned into the aisle. I crouched down, but I felt Emmett knocking into me trying to do the same, there was hardly any room. We found Clare right away, but her and Greg hadn't seen us yet.

"Clare!" Chase whispered fervently. She didn't hear him over the music coming out of the speakers.

"Clare!" he tried again. She didn't hear him, but Greg sure did. It was dark enough that he could only see Chase and not the rest of us who were a bit farther back.

"What are you doing here Turner," he sneered. I heard Clare gasp and jerk her head towards Chase.

"Chase what _are_ you doing here?" she asked, looking completely taken aback.

"Shhhhhhh!" a man said that was right in front of us. I couldn't really blame him, I hated when people were loud in the movie theatre.

"Shhh!!!!!!!" Emmett hissed right back, sticking out his tongue. He frowned at him and turned back to his date.

"No!" suddenly shouted Alice. She turned to Jasper with an annoyed look. "This is the worst movie ever," she said loudly, "What a waste when he is just going to die at the end."

Several people surrounding us turned to glare fiercely at her.

"Oh, er, I'm sorry, I was just kidding," she said weakly, leaning into Jasper's shoulder, "I mean, how would I know that?" She laughed a little awkwardly.

"Why don't you keep your thoughts to yourself then?" A burly man shouted angrily, twisting around to stare directly at her.

"Hey, don't talk to my wife like that," said Jasper, standing up to his full height, walking towards the man.

_Oh no, here we go._

"And what are you going to do about it?" The man was also standing up and making his way out of the aisle.

"Hey," I warned, putting my hand on Jasper's chest. "Not here Jasper, please."

He nodded, and quickly took Alice's hand and walked out of the theatre, not giving the man a second glance.

Clare, Chase, and Greg had been watching the scene with interest, but once Chase turned back around, he remembered why he was there.

"Clare," he began, reaching for her hand.

"Hey!" interrupted Greg, "This is my date Turner, why don't you get lost!"

"Shhhh!" the brunette next to the man hissed.

Chase ignored her but leaned in closer so he could lower his voice.

"Clare, I'm sorry. I messed up today," he began, unable to meet her gaze. "But you have to know, that I love you Clare. I have since we first met back in Kindergarten, and you walked me to the nurse's office when that pinecone hit me between the eyes and then again when the alphabet board fell on me."

Emmett burst into laughter, obviously remembering that both of those things were his fault.

"Please Clare, give me another shot to prove to you how I feel, I won't mess it up this time. I know I should have said something sooner, but I was terrified of losing you."

He was searching for the words to tell her how he felt. He felt like he wasn't saying enough, so he found something that would speak the words for him.

"Here," he reached into his pocket and pulled out her silver horse chain. "Say you'll wear this for me again Clare." He offered it out to her with a pleading expression.

It was silent for a moment, as we all looked at Clare. Bella and I smiled at each other, both already knowing that she was bursting with happiness, just from her thoughts.

Clare reached out tentatively for the necklace, without saying a word or even looking at him. She unclasped it and hooked it around her neck.

"Er, is that a yes?" Chase said hopefully, looking intently at her.

Instead of answering, she grabbed his face between both of her hands and crashed her lips to his in a fit of passion. His eyes widened, but it didn't take long for him to recover and respond eagerly.

"Are you fucking kidding me!" shouted Greg, causing several people in the theatre to stare back at him. Clare and Chase jerked apart. Chase looked angry at him for interrupting their moment, while Clare looked guilty.

"I'm sorry Greg," she said honestly, "You have been a great date, really, but I never did see us as anything more than friends… But thank you for taking me out, really."

"Yeah, I hope you enjoyed it, because it's never going to happen again," interrupted Chase, wrapping a secure arm around her and helping her stand up.

Greg glared menacingly at him and opened his mouth to respond, but Emmett suddenly stood up right behind Chase, giving Greg an evil smile.

Greg's eyes widened at the sight of Emmett, and he sulked back into his chair, crossing his arms tightly.

"We should go," said Bella, grabbing my hand.

"Do you MIND?!" The brunette said again, twisting fully around. "I'm going to go get security if you don't shut up!"

"Jessica?!" Bella cried, gaping at her.

"Bella!" Jessica responded loudly

"Bella?" said another voice from right beside the brunette. I would know that voice anywhere. Newton.

"Wow, hey guys," Bella said, crouching back down, dragging me with her.

"Hey Edward," said Jessica. She had obviously changed. Her hair was shorter; and she must be about 30 now. I chuckled when I saw Mike had a bit of a receding hair line, must be all the gel he used to use.

"Hello Mike, Jessica," I said politely, grasping onto Bella's waist.

"You look exactly the same!" Mike cried, taking in Bella's appearance.

I narrowed my eyes a bit, trying to decide if it was more pathetic or more annoying that he still was enamored by my wife. I put my arm around her shoulders, and shot him a quick look, but I'm sure he didn't miss it. He turned back to the movie.

I let Jessica and Bella catch up a bit, before I let her know that we should be going.

We exchanged goodbyes, and when Bella went to stand up, I saw Greg and Mike turn to watch her go. Feeling the familiar ever present jealously seep into my system, I acted.

The second we began to walk away, I placed my hand possessively on her butt and gave it a gentle squeeze. I turned back around over my shoulder, and gave them both a wink.

Bella and I walked out of the theatre laughing, and went to meet up with the rest of our family. They were congregated right outside the doors.

"Where's Clare?" I asked.

"Her and Chase went to use the bathroom, they're going to come back with us," Rosalie answered.

"You'll never guess who we ran into in there," Bella said, a wide smile coming onto her face. "Jessica Stanley and Mike Newton!"

"How did they look?" laughed Alice, obviously always thinking about peoples appearances.

"Old," I answered. "Well, Mike did, he's already losing some of his hair!" Everyone started laughing, and it was lucky we weren't in the theatre anymore.

"I got nervous for a second," Bella said once she calmed down. "He noticed that I looked exactly the same!"

"What did you say?" asked Rosalie, still smiling.

"Oh you know, the truth," Bella said seriously. "My boyfriend bit me right after high school ended and turned me into a vampire. Since vampires don't age, I'll always look exactly the same."

We all burst again into laughter, but it abruptly died the second we saw Clare and Chase standing feet away from us.

Clare's mouth was wide open, and Chase looked utterly confused.


	9. Chapter 9

**Authors Note: I'm SO SO SO SO sorry that it took me so long to update! I came home from college for Thanksgiving break, and all my friends came home too so I've been spending all my time with them! I have been neglecting poor Clare! However, here is what happens next! I think this story is about over sadly, I haven't decided yet. But don't worry, I've got a couple outtakes swimming around in my head, and more story ideas. **

**Edwards POV****, of course.**

"What did you just say Bella?" asked Clare, walking toward us. I could tell by her tone that she was deciding whether or not to take Bella's comments seriously. Chase held tightly to her hand trying to position himself in front of her. "You were just joking right?" she continued anxiously, her eyes pleading for Bella to agree with her.

Bella didn't answer. We all turned to look at each other. I saw Jasper nod his head. _It's time,_ he thought. Bella must have heard him too because she sighed loudly and reached out for Clare's other hand, pulling her into her arms. "Let's go home, we'll discuss it there."

"What is there to discuss?" Clare said, "What you said didn't even make any sense?" She allowed Bella to walk her out toward the car. Chase let go of her hand and fell into step with me.

"What's going on Edward?" he whispered seriously, putting his hand across my chest to stop me.

"We can't talk about it here Chase," I turned to him, gently patting his hand away. I motioned for him to follow me into the parking lot. The ride home was silent. Clare's heart was pumping furiously the whole time; she knew that something was going on because we had never hesitated to tell her anything before. She was running things over and over in her head, memories about us, trying to make sense of what Bella had said.

I picked up my cell phone, and told Carlisle and Esme to meet us in the living room. I told him in hurried tones what happened, warning him that it was time, that Clare was going to finally found out our secret, after all of these years.

Clare got out of the car first and reached for Chase. She buried her head into his shoulder and walked toward the house. I saw him bend down and kiss her gently, rubbing her arm for reassurance.

"I'm sorry Edward," Bella said softly, "I was distracted, I had no idea she was listening." Her eyes looked so sad, and the guilt she was feeling was absolutely breaking my heart.

"She had to find out sometime Bella," I consoled her. "If you ask me, we've waited too long already."

"But I'm scared Edward, what if she wants to leave us?"

"She won't." We were Clare's family and I knew her well enough to know that she wouldn't turn her backs on us. However, I think it was going to take a while for her to get used to it.

We all gathered together in the living room, and I decided to speak first. "Clare, we owe you an explanation." She looked back at me expectantly. She was leaning into Chase and it seemed as if she was too afraid to respond.

"Clare, Chase" I began. "I need you to keep an open mind here. There is something I'm going to tell you. It may not make sense, and it may seem completely insane, but just know that I'm telling you the truth."

Chase gave me a nod, but I could see that it Clare was frozen in place.

_Now or never_ I thought. I looked at them both, trying to convey my sincerity through my eyes. "I think it's safe to say that we're not your average family. But what I want to tell you… is that we are different in more ways than you think."

Clare stared back at me, hanging onto my every word.

"So different in fact," I said softly, "That there aren't many of our kind still around today."

"Your kind?" Chase questioned nervously.

"Vampires," I answered.

"Immortal," piped in Bella quietly.

"Never aging," added Rosalie.

"With a blood diet," said Jasper. "Animal of course."

"Cold skins," said Emmett, looking at Clare nervously. I could tell from his thoughts that he was absolutely terrified that Clare would look at him differently.

Clare's eyes filled with tears. "The monsters that killed my parents," she cried. "I remember now," she buried her face into Chase and began to sob in earnest.

"Clare we didn't kill your parents." Alice stood up and walked over to Clare putting an arm on her back. "We saved them from other vampires that were going to kill them. You see, vampires naturally drink human blood, but we're trying to be as normal as possible, we live our life based on the idea of not killing humans."

Chase was shaking his head back and forth, trying to take this all in. "Are you trying to tell us that…_vampires_….actually exist? And that you are all vampires?" He gestured, his eyes wide with fear.

"Vampires do exist," Bella answered. "It's true; we would never lie to you."

"But…but, how can that be?" he asked unbelievingly. "This is impossible." He stood up and started pacing, trying to piece everything together. Clare sat in the corner of the couch, with her arms wrapped around herself, tears dripping down her face.

"How could you lie to me?" she suddenly said, glaring at us. "All this time….how could you." She looked at each one of us in turn with a devastated expression.

"We didn't want you to be afraid of us," replied Emmett sadly. "We love you so much Clare."

She didn't respond, she just looked down, shaking her head back and forth.

"So the cold skin?" she said angrily, "Is that part of it?"

I nodded.

"What else, huh? What else have you been hiding?"

We took the next hour, explaining everything to her calmly and as best as we could. We explained our diets, our sleeping habits, our strengths, and every secret that we had ever kept from her. We took her step by step through exactly what happened with her parents, and how we came to have her apart of our family. She didn't speak a word throughout it all. Her eyes traveled back and forth to all of us, listening intently to what we had to say. I knew she was disappointed in us for lying, and she was battling both her astonishment and her fury.

"I need some time to think about this," she sniffed when we had finished. "Come on Chase."

Chase's face was bright red and his eyes were glazed over. While Clare was silent, he had been asking question after question…only to be completely amazed and shocked at our answers. He slowly followed her upstairs to her room.

**Chase's POV**

I walked to the stairs in a daze, half aware that I was following Clare upstairs. My mind was reeling. Never in my life would I have expected this. I had spent most of my childhood around these people, only to find out that they were some supernatural force of nature. But now that I knew, I was wondering how I never noticed before. I was always aware of how good looking they all were, and how pale and cold their skin was, but vampires would have never crossed my mind.

I was never going to get the things that they just showed me out my head. I glanced up as Clare closed her bed room door behind me. I had been so elated after the movie when I told her how I felt, but all of that just seemed so long ago.

She flung herself into my arms, burying herself into my chest. I picked her up and carried her over to the bed to gently lay her down. I curled up beside her and held her as close I could and let her cry herself out. I heard a couple sniffles and she shifted to look into my eyes.

"Are you okay?" I asked, wiping a stray tear from her cheek.

"Can you believe this?" she whispered, closing her eyes. "How could they lie to me? Especially about this?"

"They love you Clare," I responded. "You can't forget that. They have taken such good care of you your entire life. They were scared you would reject them. I know it's a lot to take in, it's a lot for me too, but they're still your family, and they're probably hurting right now. And you have to admit, it's shocking…but a little cool too." I bent down to brush my lips softly against hers, reveling in the fact that I could do that now. I felt her smile for the first time in hours.

"You were full of surprises yourself tonight." She rolled over so she was straddling my lap. My whole body responded instantly as I watched her all thoughts of vampires leaving my mind. She was truly so beautiful to me. So perfect.

"You're so beautiful," I whispered, pulling her down to crush my lips against hers. Her mouth was warm against mine, and it felt like everything I knew her kiss would be. I was sure at that moment, I could never see myself with anyone else. Clare had always been the one I wanted, and I had known for such a long time. She ran her hands through my hair in an effort to pull me closer.

I couldn't help the groan that escaped my lips when she pulled away a few moments later.

"I love you Chase," she whispered into my neck. "So much." I felt more of her tears against my skin.

"I love _you_ Clare." I rolled onto my side so our faces were inches apart. I rubbed my nose gently against hers. "I always have, you know."

"I know you have," she joked. "Especially when you realized I was a good kisser at such a young age."

I laughed out loud, remembering when she kissed me in her backyard when we were kids. "I've never forgotten that," I agreed, tickling her sides.

"You feel better now?" I asked a few moments later when our giggles subsided.

"I don't know, I still don't think it's hit me. But I'm going to go down there and apologize for the way I acted. It's hard to believe that my family is made up of…vampires."

She looked back at me, and we suddenly burst into laughter.

"Yes, that is sure going to take some getting used to!"

We rolled back over and closed the space between us.


End file.
